Notre-Dame, Place St. Michel by Edouard Léon Cortès

Provenance:
Odon Wagner Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

A Post-Impressionist painter of French and Spanish ancestry, Cortès is celebrated as "Le Poète Parisien de la Peinture" or "the Parisian Poet of Painting" because of his atmospheric cityscapes of Paris depicted in a variety of weather and night settings. In 1914, Cortès married Fernande Joyeuse, and had their daughter, Jacqueline Simone, in 1916. The depiction of a woman with a child is repeated throughout his works, a possible reference to Joyeuse and Jacqueline. In this work, this mother and child representation is found with the chic Parisian woman dressed in a fur-lined burgundy coat and cloche hat, her child following closely dressed in a fashionable, wool coat.

“Notre-Dame, Place St. Michel” captures the warm romantic atmosphere of a Parisian evening, humming with the milling of passersby in the street. Illuminated by the soft light of cafés and the red lights of the automobiles, the central mother and child figure signal the cooler weather with their longer coats. The quintessential architectural landmark of Notre-Dame Cathedral softly towers in the background, catching the light of the setting sun on the gothic architecture. The work is an excellent example of Cortès’ preoccupation with capturing the life of Paris at the heart of the city.