THE HAGUE.- The Kunstmuseum Den Haag presents a major exhibition about the social upheavals in Paris in the second half of the nineteenth century. When Impressionism was in its infancy, the French capital underwent a radical process of gentrification, with unprecedented consequences for rich and poor alike. A transformation that has echoes in contemporary urban redevelopment. From 14 February to 1 June, New Paris: From Monet to Morisot shows the two faces of the City of Light: the one we cherish and the one we would rather forget.

In 1867, Claude Monet painted three views of Paris from the balcony of the Louvre, literally turning his back on the famous classical artworks in the museum to record the here and now of life on the street. In this radical break with tradition at a time when Paris was in flux, Monet chose to paint the life he saw at his feet. This was a ‘liveable’ city with growing pains that drove those with the least to the fringes of society. The three paintings are reunited this spring at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in a major Impressionist exhibition, New Paris: From Monet to Morisot, focusing on images of Paris in transition. In addition to works by Monet, the exhibition, organised in partnership with the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin, Ohio, features 65 works by Frédéric Bazille, Gustave Caillebotte, Mary Cassatt, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Armand Guillaumin, Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot and Pierre-Auguste Renoir from collections all over the world. These Impressionist works are complemented by prints by Honoré Daumier and photographs by the inventor, journalist and balloonist Félix Nadar.

Margriet Schavemaker, director of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag: ‘When we think of Impressionism, we think of rural landscapes, but Paris was the movement’s birthplace. In this exhibition we show how artists from Monet to Morisot dealt with the contradictions of the modern metropolis. Are their paintings of Paris a form of city marketing avant la lettre or can we detect deeper layers in these rose-tinted images? I am proud of the years of research behind this exhibition and the many unique loans that will take our visitors back to the beginnings of Impressionism, offering new perspectives on the history of a city we all love.’

Frouke van Dijke, curator of 19th-century art at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag: ‘The Impressionists met each other during the heyday of Haussmann’s urban renewal. Tens of thousands of workers were enlisted to build new houses and streets but also the myth of Paris: the city of light, beauty and romance. Paris was given a new face. People looked to the future with a mix of optimism and fear at a time when both art and the city of Paris underwent a complete transformation. How wonderful to bring together so many works from all over the world, to bring the richness of Paris to The Hague.’

From Monet to Morisot

The renowned art historian Linda Nochlin described Monet's three cityscapes from 1867 as ‘the most significant gesture’ by an artist towards a museum. New Paris: From Monet to Morisot shows the birth of Impressionism and the ten years that followed: the Siege of Paris in 1870 and the subsequent famine, struggle for equality, civil war and reconstruction. By mapping images of Paris from Monet to Morisot, the exhibition paints a portrait of the modern city in general.

The Ideal City

Under the leadership of urban planner Georges-Eugène Haussmann, from 1853 onwards the old medieval city was demolished in record time and rebuilt just as quickly as a modern metropolis. This megalomaniac project emerged from new ideas of how to improve urban living, with a focus on public hygiene, safety, transport infrastructure, social cohesion, green spaces and leisure time. The transformation of Paris reflected this vision of an ideal city and thus also of an ideal society. But in reality, it became above all a city for a new elite. The poor were pushed to the margins and speculation on the housing market resulted in profits for the few. Labour migration led to exploitation and friction between the social classes. The impact of these social developments was illustrated with humour and sharp sarcasm in satirical prints by Honoré Daumier.

Protest Parisienne

The fashionable Parisienne become the symbol of the new Paris. There were suddenly new public spaces such as department stores and theatres that offered middle-class women much more freedom. These were places for seeing and being seen. Fashion in the streetscape showed that the times were changing. In Paris, the new woman was everywhere: from those who wore couture and those who made it to those who depicted it and those who looked at it – the Parisienne as a muse and icon. However, women Impressionist such as Morisot and Cassat had fewer privileges and less access to Paris than their male counterparts. For example, it was not socially acceptable for them to go to a café with their male colleagues. Whereas artists such as Manet and Renoir depicted the Parisienne as a type, Cassatt and Morisot portrayed women as individuals: the female gaze as a voice against the prevailing lack of equality.

New Paris: From Monet to Morisot is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue and a children’s art book by Charlotte Dematons in the successful series that the museum publishes with Uitgeverij Leopold.

The exhibition is a partnership with the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin and the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin, Ohio. It is supported with loans from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum Barberini in Potsdam, the Musée d’Orsay, the Musée Marmottan Monet and the Musée Carnavalet in Paris and many other museums and private collections. It has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Cutural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, Stichting Zabawas, the Gravin van Bylandtstichting and the Turing Foundation.