Paris, ile-de-France, the City of Lights, the City of Love. Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall, Amedeo Modigliani all lived there and they are if not all of them, most of them, household names. Paris is one of the most romanticized cities in the world. It has inspired many artists and it has been home to the School of Paris. Without further ado, here are six plus one painters that painted Paris.
- Berthe Morisot
Berthe Morisot is one of the most famous impressionist painters, having exhibited at the highly esteemed Salon de Paris. However, after six subsequent Salons she joined the “rejects”, impressionists in all of their eight exhibitions. Manet, Degas, Cezanne, Monet, Camille Pissarro and Renoir. Morisot struggled with being taken seriously as an artist by fellow painters who happened to be men. Her brush strokes, that lightly touched the canvas, were called “efleurer” by artists and art critics. Even though at first oil was difficult for her to handle, she worked on it and ended up using oil, watercolors and pastel at the same time. Here, we see Morisot’s take on Trocadero, the famous square in Paris.
2. Georges Stein
Not much is actually known about George Stein’s life. He was a painter that produced work during the late 19th and early 20th century but whose exact date of birth and death are still contested. Nevertheless, he was mostly known for painting scenes of Paris life which we have the pleasure of viewing.
3. Jean Beraud
Jean Béraud (1849-1935). “La Pâtisserie Gloppe, avenue des Champs-Elysées”, 1889. Paris, musée Carnavalet. 
The Drinkers, Jean Beraud 
Maison Paquin, Jean Beraud 
Parisian Street, Jean Beraud 
Jean Béraud 
Jean Béraud, A windy day on the pont des arts 
Jean Béraud, The Church of Saint Philippe du Roule 
Jean Beraud, From the Balcony 
Jean Béraud, Paris Kiosk 
Jean Béraud, Representation at the theatre de varietes 
Jean Béraud, Outside the opera in Paris
Jean Beraud is another painter known for painting life in Paris during the Belle Epoque. His painting style started of ass academic but slowly moved towards impressionism following the footsteps of Degas and Manet. The scenes he paints are focused on the French bourgeoisie and their way of life, in the streets, in the bistrots and the cabarets.
4. Henri de Toulouse Lautrec
Henri de Toulouse Lautrec was a prolific artist of the late 19th century that portrayed the life of Parisians in cabarets. His struggles with alcohol and his affairs with prostitutes influenced his painting themes which remained for most of his life the night life of Paris. Even though the scenes he painted were ordinary, his execution of the themes was nothing like that. He created highly personalized characters all within one picture; each one with a story on its own.
5. Georges Seurat
Along with De Toulouse Lautrec, Seurat was another post-impressionist painter. He was one of the pioneers of pointillism, using dots to create the subject matter. His masterpiece A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte initiated a movement called neo-impressionism and is a vivid example of his dexterity working with dots.
6. Camille Pissarro
He was another French impressionist that worked along with Seurat and Signac, the fathers of neo-impressionism. He was the only painter to show his work in all eight of the impressionist exhibitions in Paris. The two paintings that portray Paris are characteristic for their impressionistic value. The colors are mild and toned down and the artist has successfully captured the essence of the moment.
7. Paul Signac
Another pointillist, Paul Signac was mainly known for his paintings of Marseilles and the French Riviera. He among others was founder of the Societe des Artistes Independants whose goal was to get the public to enjoy paintings sans intermediates. Signac produced works in watercolor, oil as well as lithographs and etchings. He was one of Matisse’s biggest inspirations and his work set the foundation for fauvism.
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