Place de la Madeleine 

Edouard Cortes painted this view of the Place de la Madeleine in Paris, sometime in the first half of the twentieth century. Cortes specialized in these kinds of scenes, capturing the boulevards and monuments of the French capital in different weather conditions and times of day. This painting can be situated within the tradition of French urban painting that stretches back to the Impressionists in the late nineteenth century. But the Impressionists were interested in the changing qualities of light and atmosphere. Here, Cortes is more concerned with the social life of the city. The architecture becomes a backdrop for the figures who populate the scene: strolling, shopping, and riding in automobiles. What does this painting tell us about the modernization of Paris? The development of its commercial life? These are questions that we can pursue by studying the social and economic history of Paris in this period.