Rue des Mauvais Garçons, Paris 1854

Editor: Here we have Charles Meryon's "Rue des Mauvais Garçons, Paris" from 1854. It's an etching, a type of print, that depicts a Parisian street. There's this really intense atmosphere of secrecy and maybe a bit of seediness, perhaps. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: Oh, "Bad Boys' Street"... what a deliciously provocative title! I find myself drawn into its shadows, don't you? It's like stepping into a forgotten corner of the city, where secrets whisper from behind crumbling walls. The figures huddling there – what are they discussing? Is it a clandestine rendezvous or just neighbors gossiping? I feel a pull toward that almost literary Romanticism! It almost reminds me of the illustrations in Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". What feelings does it conjure in you? Editor: That literary connection is interesting, I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I definitely feel a similar unease and tension! The way he etches the building, all these harsh lines, it makes the architecture feel almost predatory. Is it typical of him to instill these human emotions in architectural depictions? Curator: Precisely! Meryon was, let's say, deeply imaginative... bordering on eccentric, some might even say obsessed. He imbued these old Parisian structures with character, transforming stone and mortar into characters in his own urban drama. You almost get the feeling this street isn’t just a place, but a feeling he's capturing. Editor: It’s amazing how much storytelling he manages to pack into a single print! I initially focused on the technical skill of the etching, but I realize now there's so much more at play. Curator: Exactly! And now, doesn’t the title just perfectly fit? What was, to you, simply etching is, to me, pure gothic romance. What could have been a straightforward illustration has transformed.