Binnenplaats van de Ecole des Beaux-Arts te Parijs 1872 - 1904

Wilhelm Cornelis Bauer rendered this watercolor of the courtyard of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, an institution which epitomized academic artistic training, in the late 19th or early 20th century. The École des Beaux-Arts was not just a school; it was a gatekeeper, determining who gained access to the art world. Its rigid curriculum, deeply rooted in classical traditions, often favored artists from privileged backgrounds who understood the unspoken rules of the artistic establishment. Bauer, who was Dutch, may have been captivated by the school as a vision of a culturally elite space. Consider the architecture: the arches, columns, and ornamentation speak of power, tradition, and a hierarchy of knowledge. The statues, mostly of nude male figures, reinforce the school’s emphasis on the classical, and perhaps an exclusionary idea of beauty. While Bauer's delicate lines capture the beauty of the architecture, they also hint at the complex social dynamics at play within its walls. This watercolor invites us to consider who was included, and who was excluded, from the exclusive world of fine art at the turn of the century.