The Pantheon and St. Etienne-du-Mont 1904

Curator: Let's take a moment to appreciate Raoul Dufy's "The Pantheon and St. Etienne-du-Mont," painted in 1904. The oil-on-canvas artwork captures a striking cityscape. Editor: Immediately, I’m drawn to the sky—that intense, almost overwhelming blue. It really dominates the scene and sets a somewhat melancholic mood. The light and shadow are used expressively. Curator: Dufy contrasts these iconic architectural forms: The Pantheon represents the grand sweep of classical aspirations while St. Etienne-du-Mont embodies a more intimate, gothic spirituality. Consider their arrangement – how Dufy aligns these sacred structures within the context of daily life. Editor: Yes, the geometry is really interesting. The painting uses very clear angular forms alongside looser brushstrokes that give the overall composition a sense of movement and liveliness, despite its monumental subject matter. I also notice how figures almost dissolve into the background. Curator: Dufy masterfully portrays the passage of time—history coexisting with modernity. The figures strolling through the square evoke a sense of continuity. Editor: Exactly. Those blurred figures reinforce that feeling. And the light—the way it falls on the buildings really emphasizes the textures and makes it appear tangible. There's a lovely sense of depth too. Curator: Think about what these landmarks might have meant to Parisians, a kind of psychological anchor. The Pantheon symbolizing collective memory, the church, faith, with the street as the stage of everyday Parisian drama. Editor: It is interesting how he merges classical and early Modernist visual vocabularies so fluidly, capturing the atmosphere rather than offering photographic precision. Curator: A very compelling aspect of the piece is indeed that tension between objective rendering and an emotional response, all those architectural anchors serve as symbolic and psychic landscapes for the contemporary observer. Editor: I appreciate the artwork much more now. The symbolism, coupled with Dufy’s application of form, transforms a familiar cityscape into a meditation on time and human existence. Curator: Yes, an unexpectedly affecting vista – where the timeless collides with the everyday.