Design for a Stage Set at the Opéra, Paris 1830 - 1890

Editor: Here we have Eugène Cicéri's "Design for a Stage Set at the Opéra, Paris," created sometime between 1830 and 1890 using mixed media, including watercolor and print. There’s something dreamlike about it… almost as if it's a memory fading at the edges. What stands out to you about it? Curator: It whispers, doesn't it? Of grand performances and imagined worlds. The watercolor gives it that ethereal quality. Notice how the architectural details aren’t perfectly precise – it's not about realism, it’s about evoking a mood. It feels more like a suggestion of a place, ready to be filled with drama and music. Does it feel grounded in reality to you? Editor: Not really. It’s interesting how the materials contribute to that. Knowing it's a stage design, do you think that influences how we should interpret the slightly unfinished aesthetic? Curator: Absolutely! It’s functional art, meant to inspire other artists - costume designers, set builders, performers. Cicéri gives them just enough, the bare bones of a fantastic place. That arch, for example – it’s monumental but sketchy, inviting us to dream up the rest of the opera's world. He seems to let us be active collaborators. Editor: So, rather than a finished piece, it’s more like an invitation to participate? That reframes it completely! Curator: Precisely! And that little glimpse of a figure at the top… isn’t there a hint of theatrical mischief there? The whole piece has the quiet energy of something about to begin. Editor: I see what you mean, it feels expectant now, and strangely less like a remnant of something past. It is full of possibility. Curator: And isn’t that the true magic of theatre? To conjure something out of nothing! This work invites us into the creative process, which makes it incredibly exciting.