Chatelet in Winter 

Edouard Cortes captures the Parisian Chatelet in winter, using oil on canvas, to create a vibrant street scene. Cortes, the son of a painter, was known as ‘the Parisian poet of painting’ who documented the city’s streets during the Belle Époque, a time of both optimism and significant class disparity. Cortes avoids overt social commentary, but look closer and you may notice how his paintings capture a society undergoing rapid change. The bare trees and the snowy streets evoke a sense of cold and quiet that is contrasted by the warm glow of streetlights. Horse-drawn carriages and early trams share the road, reflecting the transition from old to new technologies, and also, different socioeconomic classes. The painting is not just a visual record, it evokes a particular mood, reflecting how these societal shifts were experienced. The beauty of Cortes's Paris exists in the intersection of progress and nostalgia, reflecting the emotional complexity of a society on the brink of modernity.