SEASONS OF PARIS

This exhibition was created by an undergraduate seminar to explore 
perspectives of Paris and to show some of the many faces that the city has 
presented over the centuries to visitors and inhabitants. In this gallery we 
present the physical city: its monuments and the river around which it grew. 

From architectural landmarks like the cathedral of Notre Dame to the count-
less pieces of sculpture that animate parks and squares, the monuments of 
Paris not only give the city visual interest but provide links to its political 
and social history. Artists create monuments as commemoration of historic 
events, but they also depict them as backdrop to later historic events, and as 
documents of the past surviving in the changing city. Flowing through the 
heart of Paris, the Seine provides an open space that allows panoramic views 
of the monuments along its banks, and it has its own architecture in the 
many bridges that cross it.  But the river is also an artery of transportation, 
and for barge crews and their families it is a place to live. 

The next gallery, through the doorway at the left, takes its cue from Louis-
S‚bastien Mercier's "Panorama of Paris" (Le Tableau de Paris) issued from 
1781 to 1788. Rather than describing the physical city, Mercier wrote about 
the habits, mores, and customs of Parisians. Similarly, this portion of the 
exhibition focuses on human activities and emotions, with an emphasis on 
pleasure, fashion and street life.