Design for a Stage Set at the Opéra, Paris 1830 - 1890

Curator: It has a very unfinished, dreamlike quality. I almost feel like I am peering into someone’s memory. Editor: You’ve certainly tuned into something! What you're experiencing is likely due to its origins as a stage set design for the Opéra in Paris, crafted sometime between 1830 and 1890 by Eugène Cicéri. What’s particularly interesting is how the artist used pencil and watercolor to create an ambiance, hinting at architecture instead of meticulously defining every detail. Curator: Ah, that explains the somewhat ethereal presence of the structure! The symbolic impact is fascinating when considering theatrical intention. An ephemeral space designed for an ephemeral art. It makes me question what architectural vernacular he might have been trying to evoke for his Parisian audience. Editor: Given that it depicts a cityscape rooted in Islamic art, it perhaps points to a 19th-century Parisian fascination with Orientalism, and the cultural imagination that flourished around non-Western societies. Stage designs like this reflect, but also actively shape, the public’s perception. Consider what the production featuring this set may have implied, visually and narratively. Curator: A lens through which an audience encounters the 'exotic.' And the choice of what to omit. What is hidden becomes as important as what is shown. Like that stark black space where we might expect a doorway to be… I am struck by the heavy shadow it casts. Editor: Right, and consider how even this two-dimensional watercolor has survived and been recontextualized within a museum. Our own perceptions of what Cicéri intended—or what was received at the time—shifts again. It begs the question: How does art maintain and morph its social meaning as it moves through time? Curator: Indeed. The symbolic narrative grows increasingly complex! Even within a deceptively simple image. Editor: Precisely. An evolving narrative, layer upon layer.