Paris, Spectacle of Modernity

The program is presented by three art historians, all experts on different aspects of nineteenth-century French art and urbanism, who display their own particular methodology. Francis Frascina's approach is informed by a Marxist view of history in which the reconstruction of Paris under its prefect Baron Haussmann is seen as determined by the political and economic forces of capitalism. Tim Benton explores the history of urban development and outlines the positive improvements against the social cost of such rapid change. Hollis Clayson's argument centers on the huge public concern over the growth of prostitution in the city. The program suggests ways in which these historical interpretations can inform our reading of Impressionist art in the 1870s.

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