St.Martin, Spring 

Curator: Oh, the bustle and gentle light! Looking at Edouard Cortes's oil on canvas, "St. Martin, Spring," it just breathes Parisian air. There's a vibrancy even without a specific date pinned to it, capturing a timeless slice of city life. What catches your eye first? Editor: Immediately, it's the way Cortes positions us, just off the main thoroughfare. The flowering cart—almost blocking our view. Whose perspective are we occupying, and why? It isn’t the bourgeois strolling on a sunny day, or is it? The image plays with ideas of spectacle and spectatorship—who gets to be seen? Curator: It’s true, we’re kind of tucked away on the side. But still bathed in that spring light—aren't we all, one way or another? To me, it feels less deliberate exclusion and more…well, finding the romance in the margins, where the light still dances on cobblestones and the city murmurs its secrets. It reminds me, isn't "flânerie" originally about finding liberation in observation? Editor: Precisely. The figure to our left appears confined and stiff in dark and constricting clothes that visually block us. Meanwhile, the flowers seem intentionally arranged to tempt the other observers and viewers with their vividness. If this is about "liberation in observation," what about all the ones left out? This image seems deeply preoccupied with class, though spring and fresh flowers act as a kind of palliative, no? Curator: Perhaps! Though the broad, open boulevard also lets light to reach unexpected corners. I mean, even in his choice of fleeting, almost hazy brushstrokes, Cortes shows us a moment not perfectly composed, but lived. The whole "impressionist landscape" allows us to capture the whole fleeting picture, spring after spring. What would you change about this image if you could? Editor: I'd love to push Cortes further. Whose liberation, exactly, does this 'fleeting picture' prioritize? And who pays for the privilege? I am especially intrigued by the flower cart. Flower selling was a major entry point for rural women coming into Paris, creating opportunities to have their bodies on full display, a precarious situation to occupy. Let's bring some of that complicated nuance into how we discuss his spring. Curator: Absolutely! Considering the lives intertwined within these grand boulevards allows us to fully witness its splendor, as well as question who's building it. Perhaps it reminds us that we never see a city in full without understanding those shadowy sides, either. Editor: Exactly. Cortes urges us to do so. Every springtime in every city asks for an ever vigilant eye for justice, fairness, equality and peace!