La Madeleine, winter 

Editor: This is Édouard Cortès’ “La Madeleine, Winter,” an oil painting that captures a Parisian street dusted with snow. It feels almost like a snapshot, very intimate, drawing you into the everyday lives of these figures. What grabs your attention most about this painting? Curator: It's fascinating how Cortès portrays a seemingly mundane winter scene and elevates it through the lens of burgeoning modernity. He wasn't just painting snow; he was painting a Paris transforming, becoming increasingly reliant on these relatively new motorized vehicles we see dispersed among the pedestrian figures, creating social dynamics of mobility and access that impacted how people navigated and perceived the city. Do you see how the architecture serves as both a backdrop and a kind of silent witness to these evolving patterns? Editor: Definitely. There’s this real juxtaposition of old and new – the classic Parisian buildings against the newer cars and the way people are bundled up, moving around them. I am wondering, was Cortès aware of the politics of depicting city life in that moment? Curator: Undoubtedly. Consider that impressionism as a movement emerged precisely when Paris was undergoing immense urban renewal. Artists like Cortès weren't passive observers; they were actively documenting, and, in a way, commenting on the social changes happening around them. He highlights the accessibility and availability to experience the fine architectural aesthetic on display to all city dwellers. It's a very democratic display. The figures walking on the sidewalks now had the access of being on the sidewalks which speaks volumes as to public health. The figures walking with the buildings as the landscape tells you what mattered. Editor: That's a powerful point! Seeing it as a commentary on accessibility and societal changes makes me view it with fresh eyes. Curator: Exactly! Art provides snapshots to question what our cultural identity encompasses through careful social dynamics and representation.