Bookings open in December 2026
A new Parisian leisure society developed in the second half of the 19th century, providing ample material for artists who portrayed not only the excitement and energy of this vibrant period but also its darker side. This study day looks at the way ‘scenes of modernity’ were depicted through paintings of the new absinthe-fuelled cafe society, the nascent emancipation of women and the rise of the bourgeoisie. It will make particular reference to the works of Manet, the Impressionists and one of the most underappreciated female artists, Berthe Morisot.
Biography:
Stella Grace Lyons is a freelance Art History lecturer, speaker and writer accredited with The Arts Society. She has lectured across the UK, Ireland, Spain, Norway, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Malaysia. Stella gained her BA in the History of Art with a 1st class in her dissertation from the University of Bristol and her MA in History of Art from the University of Warwick. She spent a year studying Renaissance art in Italy at the British Institute of Florence and three months studying Venetian art in Venice. In addition, she attended drawing classes at the prestigious Charles H. Cecil studios in Florence, a private atelier that follows a curriculum based on the leading ateliers of nineteenth-century Paris.
Image: Camille Pissarro - Boulevard Montmartre - Eremitage, Public Domain