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

Curator: Eugène Cicéri's "Design for a Stage Set at the Opéra, Paris," created between 1830 and 1890, is a watercolor and print piece brimming with the promise of theatrical enchantment. Editor: I love this! There’s a melancholy here, despite the intended grandeur. The faded colors lend an ethereal quality, almost as if we’re glimpsing a memory rather than a concrete plan. Curator: Absolutely. The proscenium arch, framed by heavy drapes and rocky outcrops, hints at Romanticism's fascination with the sublime power of nature and dramatic presentation. Editor: Drapes are important. This work shows the frame, the device through which we accept to see some action; and their folds create a sensation. There's the sensation that something will take place beyond, even with the scene absent. Curator: The meticulous detail in the foliage suggests Cicéri’s awareness of stagecraft. He would’ve worked to create illusions. Editor: Right. And the use of watercolor gives everything a light, transient feeling. Even stone dissolves slightly, just like illusions on a stage, not permanent! Are we watching an opera? Are we just fantasizing? It keeps floating in the air. Curator: The blank stage invites the viewer to conjure their own drama within its confines. Editor: The stage is set for the audience’s imagination as well. And there’s such tension, between that darkness in the proscenium with an idea of life within the representation. Curator: Consider it a vessel, awaiting a narrative to fill it. Editor: So true. It’s also interesting that Cicéri allows us to peek behind the curtain a bit, with the architectural scaffolding showing through in parts. It doesn't hurt the experience at all to be reminded of illusion itself, you know? It feels genuine and a bit vulnerable. Curator: Perhaps. He knows the most impactful illusion incorporates an honesty about its artifice. What starts in theater? Everything? Editor: Maybe everything important. I really admire how this whispers more than shouts, and you start hearing everything with the soul!