Boulevard St. Denis

Name/Title

Boulevard St. Denis

Entry/Object ID

2000.24.01

Description

A bustling city street is depicted in the wintertime. Masses of people walk along the sidewalk, as horse and carriages crowd the busy, snowy street. The piece is bisected with the divide of trees and lanterns in the center of the painting. Buildings and illuminated store fronts line either side of the streets. The artist uses a very muted color palette, and the use of different greys throughout the piece, especially at the horizon, gives the appearance of a nebulous day in the city in the late winter. The inclusion of warmer tones like the yellows, greens, and reds of the shops illuminate the piece, and contribute to the contrast between the light from the shops and the shadows from the gloomy outdoors. The people furthermore are given no attention to specific characteristic, rather they anonymous images passing along each other on the street. The piece is very well balanced, and the overall composition is marked by the color, and the depth which is created with the use of one-point perspective, and the overall style of the painter. The painter has a very impressionistic style, which is seen in the dabbling of pure colors throughout the image rather than smooth strokes of paint. The surface because it is done in oil is shiny and has been treated with some sort of over glaze.

Type of Painting

Easel

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil on Canvas

Acquisition

Accession

2000.24

Source or Donor

Arden Bement, Jr.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Arden L. Bement, Jr.

Made/Created

Artist

Edouard Cortes

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Signature

Location

Lower left hand corner

Transcription

Edouard Cortes

Material/Technique

Painted

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Painting

Nomenclature Class

Art

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

12-1/2 in

Width

17-1/2 in