Jessica Fahy Art Historian

The Art of Fin de Siècle Paris

This four-part lecture series will cover the art of the end of the 19th century in Paris with a particular focus on depictions of the nightlife. The art of the 1890s is full of expressions of decadence and hedonism. There is something fascinating about the different responses artists had to what many saw as the fall of Western civilization. The greater freedom in society which artists experienced often came with a sense of pessimism visible in the art they produced. There is no doubt that this era created extraordinary art, beautiful in its darkness.

Artists included are Degas, Signac, Toulouse-Lautrec, Suzanne Valadon, Maurice Denis and Odilon Redon.