Les Grands Boulevards 

Curator: Looking at Edouard Cortes' "Les Grands Boulevards," I’m immediately struck by its melancholy atmosphere. There’s a distinct sense of movement, but it feels muted, almost hushed, despite all the figures populating the street. Editor: The painting indeed speaks to a certain stillness caught in a bustling moment. Cortes masterfully uses oil paints to portray the Parisian boulevards—spaces typically associated with commerce and public life—as almost dreamlike. He doesn't give us a precise date for the piece. What strikes me most about this piece is the representation of a particular stratum of Parisian society at a key period of the city's growth, capturing a bourgeoise-dominated public sphere that was only beginning to negotiate new concepts of race, gender, and class relations. Curator: The wet cobblestones reflecting the lights certainly contribute to this ethereal mood. Water has always been symbolically tied to the unconscious. See how the blurry figures gain legibility when illuminated in their reflections? This element of duality invites me to reconsider what it meant to wander Paris during the turn of the century. The figures become transient reflections of themselves in time. Editor: I'm glad you pointed that out. Because of their ephemeral and constantly fluctuating character, those reflections point to questions of transience, and visibility in a historical moment filled with socioeconomic anxieties and transformations. Who has the privilege of public space? Whose story is told, and from which angle? Curator: Absolutely, those layers exist in every corner of the street and within the diverse stories that converge here! And as an artist so concerned with light, one wonders what Cortes is saying by bathing the scene in the faint, fading light of dusk. The sky feels heavy, almost pressing down on the figures. I suppose that melancholic tone might just be that—the feeling of dusk drawing in, of things ending, if even temporarily. Editor: True. He evokes, perhaps unintentionally, the complex dynamics of social relations on those grands boulevards during La Belle Époque. I agree, it has to do with transience as well. It certainly resonates today, inviting discussions about shared urban spaces. Curator: This exploration through the boulevards of Paris gives one plenty to consider in how physical space affects society's collective sense of self. Editor: Yes, looking at "Les Grands Boulevards" has me reflecting on how the painting becomes more relevant, more evocative, the further removed we are from the period itself.