Dîner aux Ambassadeurs 1880

Jean Béraud’s painting captures a slice of Parisian life at the Ambassadeurs, rendered with oil on canvas. Béraud has a real command of the medium. The material qualities of oil paint – its viscosity and capacity to blend – allow Béraud to create atmospheric effects, especially in the way the gaslights glow against the dark foliage. You get a sense of the quick, confident application of paint, capturing the fleeting moment with deft strokes. But there’s a social dimension at play too. The scene depicts an elite social space, a place of leisure and spectacle for the Parisian bourgeoisie. Consider the cost of the materials – the fine canvas, imported pigments – and the time required for such a large-scale work. This was a luxury commodity. The very act of painting such a scene reinforces the social structures it depicts. It invites viewers to participate in this world of refinement, or perhaps, to passively observe it. Looking closely at the materials and making helps us to see how art is bound up with social and economic realities.