Inventory

Catalogue note

Belle Epoque Paris was defined by many new and different attractions, which provided endless subjects for artists eager to capture the modernity and excitement of the City of Light.   Nowhere was this more evident than in the widespread proliferation of concert halls, cinemas, circuses and fairs.  These were arenas of sparkling entertainment characterized by café singers, circus performers and carnival barkers mingling with a multitude of colorful spectators.

Abel Truchet was one of many artists, including Seurat, Toulouse Lautrec and Picasso, who chronicled the delight, and sometimes the darker side of these popular fairs or fête forains.  Here, he has captured the bright lights of the whirling carousel with its gas lanterns glowing in the nighttime sky and the skeletal form of the Ferris wheel in the distance.  The walkway is crowed with spectators;  a portly man and his female companion, a group of soldiers identified by their red trousers and caps and two women moving towards us  (although impossible to tell if they are at the fair to work or play).  They stare at the viewer through the eyes of the artist, as if to beckon us to join in the evening festivities of the Place Pigalle.  The show is about to begin.