Winter in Paris, Notre Dame 

Antoine Blanchard painted this scene of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, covered in snow, sometime in the mid-20th century. This is part of a series of paintings for which he is known. Blanchard painted idealized scenes of Paris, reminiscent of an earlier era. The choice to paint Paris in this way speaks to a nostalgic yearning. The city, and indeed France, had gone through immense change in the 20th century, especially through two World Wars. The rise of modernism in art and society challenged traditional ways of life. This image is a sentimental vision of the past, absent of many modern innovations or social issues. To understand this painting, we might consider the state of France at mid-century through historical documents. We might look at what was happening in Parisian cultural institutions. By examining this social and institutional context, we can better understand the meaning of Blanchard's work.