Paris at Night 1911

Konstantin Alexeevich Korovin painted this impressionistic scene of "Paris at Night" with oil on canvas. Korovin, a Russian painter, spent a considerable amount of time in Paris. It was a place where he felt he could develop his own artistic style, separate from the constraints of the Russian art world. This painting isn’t just a pretty picture of Paris. The dark palette and the blurred figures evoke a feeling of anonymity and transience. You can sense Korovin's fascination with capturing fleeting moments and the energy of urban life. There is a sense of how modernity transformed social experiences, emphasizing the alienation that can come with urban life. As you look at it, consider how Korovin used his own experiences as a Russian artist in Paris to develop a visual language that spoke to the changing social and emotional landscape of Europe at the turn of the century.