Modernity and the Belle Époque: an on-site art seminar in Paris, France, with Giulia Bernardini

Let me take care of the logistics and curate an extraordinary experience for you. Your dream vacation awaits – Giulia 

• Immerse yourself in the art and architecture of the Parisian Belle Époque – the turbulent decades of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century. Explore major and less-known works by artists at museums and sites including the Orsay, Marmottan Monet, Orangerie, Rodin, Louvre, Montmartre and Monet’s garden at Giverny. Indulge in mouth-watering meals and enjoy a private cooking lesson in Normandy at the medieval convent-turned-private home of chef and best-selling cookbook author, Susan Herrmann Loomis. Read more about the treasures that await you in the itinerary.
• Stay in chic comfort at the adorable, award-winning boutique Hôtel Signature St. Germain des Prés in the bustling, centrally-located seventh arrondissement.
• Savor free time in recommended bistros, cafés, pâtisseries, boutiques, and further art options all hand-picked for you by Giulia in her Inside Scoop.
• Explore literary selections culled by Giulia to expand your understanding of the art and architecture you will encounter.
• Share the experience with a small group of a maximum of ten like-minded explorers.
• Prices and dates forthcoming.

Seminar price includes: 8 days of art history tuition, accommodations and breakfast (unless opting out of accommodation at Hôtel Signature), entry tickets to scheduled museums and galleries, five meals (including a cooking class), 15 Paris métro tickets, private minibus to Giverny, gratuities. Does not include: airfare, lunches and dinners not listed in itinerary, ground transportation to and from airport in Paris. Seminar itinerary subject to change at any time.

Modernity and the belle époque: 

Throughout the 1800s until the eve of the Great War, France experienced intense socio-political tension and transformation. Against a backdrop of imperial and republican struggles for power, Paris grew into a sprawling urban center of glittering cafés-concerts, elegant parks, and endless shop-lined boulevards populated by laboring and bourgeois classes with expendable income and leisure time, as well as often opposing ideas about modern society and politics.

Positing themselves as society’s cultural pioneers opposite the ‘academic tradition’ were the artists of the Parisian Belle Époque‘s avant-garde: the Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Symbolist, Fauvist, Cubist, and Orphist, painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, and authors whose self-imposed task it was to translate this new state of modernity into their chosen media.

For one unforgettable week we will explore the works and stories of the artists and architects responsible for changing the face of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Paris and beyond. In museums and monuments, brasseries and cafés we’ll see the influence of the city on the art being made and learn how the artists, architects, photographers, musicians, and collectors of the Belle Époque built the foundations for twentieth century modernism.

Join us for this unmissable experience. Contact Giulia at [email protected] or click on ‘Contact Us’ below for more information.

I look forward to seeing you at the banquet…

Giulia