Claude Monet – Pont de l’Europe, Gare Saint-Lazare (1877)

When Georges-Eugène Haussmann, also known as Baron Haussmann, was assigned by Napoleon III to do a makeover of Paris in the mid-19th century, he was met with fierce opposition by the public. The expropriations en masse, the demolitions of entire neighborhoods and the tearing down of the Medieval, insalubrious, narrow streets, disrupted the daily lives […]

Alfredo Ramos Martínez – Juanita Amongst the Flowers

As a young Mexican artist, Alfredo Ramos Martínez had spent almost a decade in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, bathing in the light of Impressionism and being hypnotized by the vibrancy of Van Gogh’s and Gauguin’s works. While he never joined the French avant-garde circles, his stay in Paris turned fortuitous when […]

Tsuguharu Foujita – Self-Portrait (1936)

As a Japanese artist arriving in Paris in 1913, Tsuguharu Foujita quickly befriended and got acquainted with all the great painters, including Modigliani and Picasso, as well with socialites and celebrities like Josephine Baker. The Japanese embodied the exoticism that Europeans were longing for and he was quick to profit from it. With his bowl […]

Emiliano Di Cavalcanti – Woman with a Bird (1961)

A pioneer of Brazilian modernism, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti’s ideal had always been to capture the essence of his country without the influence of European art. It was, foremost, an issue of national pride, magnified by the fact that Latin Americans everywhere were searching for their own voice. This conviction was certainly strengthened by his years […]

Edgar Degas – The Ballet Class (1871 – 1874)

Compared to the other Impressionists, Edgar Degas was more of a traditionalist. The Frenchman didn’t paint en plein air, his color palette was subdued for much of his career and his spontaneity was painstakingly rehearsed. With a fascination for human anatomy reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci, he would do countless studies for one single painting. […]