Triumphal Arch 

Edouard Cortes made this oil painting of the Triumphal Arch, in Paris, at some point in the 20th century. In it, he shows us not just a monument but a living city. The arch itself – a neoclassical monument commissioned by Napoleon in 1806 – speaks to France's imperial ambitions, but Cortes shows us a snowy day bustling with ordinary Parisians going about their lives on foot, by horse-drawn carriage, and via electric tram. The glow of street lamps and shopfronts, the reflections on the wet street – these details evoke the sensory experience of the modern city. Cortes was one of many artists who made a career out of painting these kinds of Parisian scenes for an eager market of tourists and middle-class consumers. As art historians, we need to consider how his work functioned within the art market of his day. We can learn about this by researching exhibition records, art criticism, and sales data from the period. By doing so, we can understand the cultural values that gave rise to the painting and how it circulated within society.