The Impressionists and the Painting of Modern Life

The Impressionists and the Painting of Modern Life

In an influential essay The Painter of Modern Life (1863), the poet and art critic Charles Baudelaire described his ideal artist going out into the city to seek out new subjects for art: a “flâneur”, or “passionate spectator”, rejoicing in the experience of the crowd. Taking Baudelaire’s essay as a starting point, this lecture explores celebrated paintings of Parisian life by artists including Edouard Manet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Mary Cassatt.

Dr Lois Oliver  studied English Literature at Cambridge University, and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art.  She has worked at the Harvard Art Museums, the V&A and then the National Gallery. Currently Associate Professor in History of Art at the University of Notre Dame in London, and a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute, Lois writes audio and multimedia tours for major galleries and has appeared on the BBC. Also a keen violinist, she plays regularly with Kensington Chamber Orchestra and the Endellion Festival Orchestra.