French Connection: Canadian Painters at the Paris Salons 1880-1900

 French Connection: Canadian Painters at the Paris Salons 1880-1900 is the official Art Gallery of Hamilton Catalogue from the 2011 exhibition. 

by Tobi Bruce and Patrick Shaw Cable

For Canadian artists working in the last quarter of the 19th century, the lure of Paris was irresistible. With its teaching and exhibition opportunities, international artists flocked to the City of Lights in search of education and artistic validation. Indeed, during this period, an extended stay in Paris became an artistic rite of passage, with increasing numbers of Canadians boarding steamships to make their way across the Atlantic to pit their talents against the very best. In Paris, both emerging and mature artists found themselves in a vibrant and experimental artistic culture, unparalleled in the Western world. Two essays, accompanied by dozens of color plates, reveal the essence of the French experience for Canadian artists and how it manifested itself in their work and thinking. A central theme is a consideration of the annual Paris Salons, acceptance to which was considered the very apogee of one's training in Paris. Among the artists featured are Paul Peel (1860–1892), Maurice Cullen (1866–1934), William Blair Bruce (1859–1906), Florence Carlyle (1864-1923), George Reid (1860–1947), Laura Muntz (1860 –1930) and Sophie Pemberton (1869-1959).

• Hardcover
• 80 pages
• 2011
• 978-1897407103
  
• Dimensions: 20.3 x 1.3 x 25.4 cm