Retour du Bois, place de l'Etoile, plate nineteen from Le Long de la Seine et des Boulevards Possibly 1890 - 1910

Auguste-Louis Lepère made this print of the Place de l'Étoile in Paris as part of a series called "Along the Seine and the Boulevards." As we look at this image, consider the cultural references. The Arc de Triomphe looms large, a monument commissioned by Napoleon to celebrate military victories, but now it stands as a backdrop to everyday Parisian life, with crowds returning from the Bois de Boulogne. The Bois de Boulogne was created as a place of leisure and recreation for all Parisians. Lepère highlights the democratization of leisure in the late 19th century. Lepère, who was associated with the revival of printmaking, understood the social power of reproducible images. In a rapidly changing Paris, he captured fleeting moments of modern life and shared them with a wide audience. To truly understand Lepère's work, we might consult period newspapers, guidebooks, and social histories, piecing together a picture of the city he knew and the social forces that shaped his art.