Champs Elysees, Winter 

Antoine Blanchard painted this view of the Champs Elysees in winter, we think, sometime in the mid-twentieth century. Blanchard specialized in Parisian street scenes like this one. He wasn’t unique in that respect, but he was somewhat unusual in choosing to paint views of the city that looked backwards in time. His images mostly depict Paris as it existed in the decades around 1900. This allowed him to evoke what was seen as the elegance of the belle epoque – a period of peace and prosperity that was brought to an end by the First World War. We can contrast this art, which harks back to pre-war days, with that of artists who embraced modernism, seeking to represent the shock and alienation of life in the new century. Historians of art can look to period newspapers, tourist guides, and fashion magazines to better understand the cultural associations of this scene. By placing art in its historical context, we can better understand how it reflects changing social attitudes.