Melbourne Masterclass. Paris is the world. Faculty of Arts

Transcription

1 Melbourne Masterclass Paris is the world Faculty of Arts

2 Melbourne Masterclass Paris is the World The history of Old Regime and revolutionary Paris (17th and 18th centuries) Led by invited guest lecturer from Paris, Professor Allan Potofsky (Université Paris-Diderot). Monday 8 Friday 12 January 2018 Daily 9.30am 12pm Paris is the world, wrote Marivaux in The rest of the earth is merely its suburbs. His soaring elegy to the French capital captured the city s central place in the imagination of the Enlightenment. This masterclass will examine how Paris became synonymous with gleaming architectural wonders, harmonious facades, and numerous public squares, in the context of France s social, political, and cultural upheavals during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Beginning with Henri IV s and Louis le Grand s search for urban grandeur, Paris was transformed by and for its elites into a new Rome. At the same time, Paris of the people, particularly in the overcrowded ghettos of the city centre, was repeatedly condemned as insalubrious and ripe only for the spread of infectious disease and seditious ideas. This other Paris was repeatedly condemned as a new Babylon. For the heart of Paris was still a horribly medieval city, wrote Voltaire in 1749, in which the creations of France s greatest architects were marred by narrow, filthy streets and crumbling houses worthy of barbarians and vandals. At the time of the French Revolution, Parisians revolted against these social ills that were those of modernity itself. Paris as the new Rome and Paris as Babylon coexisted uneasily until the Revolution introduced imperfect but lasting urban reforms that began to recalibrate and remake the urban environment in vain pursuit of an elusive ideal to transform the life of Parisians. Presented by internationally renowned historians and a notable curator of International Art from the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), this summer masterclass is held at The University of Melbourne and the NGV over five consecutive days with a combination of lectures, interactive and facilitated discussions, with the integration of objects and art works in select presentations.

3 Monday 8 January Paris in the age of Classicism (17th century) Session 1: Lecture The lecture begins with a survey of an ancient, medieval and Renaissance Paris. It then focuses on Paris in the age of Louis XIV ( ) in which a dynamic French nation started to dominate Europe and swathes of North America and Africa. The French absolutist state was projected deeply in such diverse areas of society as urban development, as exemplified by the opening of bridges, public squares, and fountains. However, the moving of the royal court to Versailles had a profound effect on Paris, which lost much of its wealth in luxury commerce to the royal city. Presented by Professor Allan Potofsky Session 2: Q&A and audience discussion Chaired by Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee Tuesday 9 January Paris as the global city of the Enlightenment (18th century) Session 1: Lecture The eighteenth century centered on the reigns of Louis XV ( ) and Louis XVI ( ). Issues to be treated include the modernization of the capital city, Paris; the intellectual and cultural movement of the Enlightenment; the emergence of a political opposition through the public sphere; and the commercial revolution that had transformed the lives of many of the 700,000 Parisians estimated to live in the increasingly crowded city in Presented by Professor Allan Potofsky Session 2: Q&A and audience discussion Chaired by Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet, A View of Paris with the Île de la Cité, 1763

4 Melbourne Masterclass Paris is the World The history of Old Regime and revolutionary Paris (17th and 18th centuries) Wednesday 10 January The French Revolution and the world of the arts Session 1: Lecture 1 The decade of upheaval in France after 1789 affected every dimension of French culture and society, nowhere more than the world of art and artists. In this session, to be held at the National Gallery of Victoria, Peter McPhee will outline the causes and outcomes of the Revolution. Presented by Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee Inside the French revolutionary prison Session 1: Lecture 2 Between 1793 and 1794 in Paris over fifty prisons were created from existing buildings to accommodate the thousands of citizens categorized as politically suspect during the Terror. This talk explores the hidden world of the revolutionary prison through the eyes of some of the many artists who continued to paint, draw and sell their work while under arrest. Presented by Dr Sophie Matthiesson Jean-François Sablet (Swiss ) Daniel Kervégan, Mayor of Nantes c National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne Purchased with funds donated by Andrew Sisson, 2010 Session 2: Floor talks in the NGV Gallery spaces Peter and Sophie will then take us to examine some of the Gallery s great artistic treasures from the period in the permanent gallery spaces.

5 Thursday 11 January The urban landscape of Paris and the Revolution Sessions 1 & 2: Lectures The French Revolution did not abolish traditional architecture, despite the bias of certain historians to limit the Revolution s contribution to the development of Paris to vandalism alone. Paris was transformed in the Revolution, especially following the appropriation and sale of Church and aristocratic properties which were transformed into new quarters or residential buildings. Focusing on a virtual tour starting at the Panthéon and ending on the Left Bank neighbourhood of Saint-André-des-Arts, we will examine how the Revolution and its reforms changed the urban landscape of the center of the city. Presented by Professor Allan Potofsky Friday 12 January Napoleon: Engineering the Revolution Session 1: Lecture Napoleonic Paris witnessed a turn away from architecture in favour of a vast program to engrave imperial representations upon the infrastructure of Paris. Among the more than one thousand great monuments constructed between 1799 and 1815, the Arc de Triomphe carried on the monarchy s tradition of erecting Roman arches at the city s entry points, to commemorate national martial glory. This course will examine the return of monumental Paris as well as the effect of Napoleonic priorities of canals, roads, and other infrastructure that helped to prepare, though inadequately, the city of Paris for the age of industrialization. Presented by Professor Allan Potofsky Session 2: Q&A and audience discussion Chaired by Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee

6 Professor Allan Potofsky Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee Presenters: Professor Allan Potofsky is a Professor of Atlantic and French history at the Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7, specializing in early modern French America and Parisian urban history during the eighteenth century and the French Revolution. He is the author of Constructing Paris in the Age of Revolutions (2009; paperback, 2012) and has edited two collections of articles (for French History, in collaboration with Trevor Burnard and The History of European Ideas). He is currently writing a book, Paris-on-the-Atlantic (Editions Vendémiaire), focusing on the French capital as a social and economic hinterland of early globalization of the eighteenth century. Emeritus Professor Peter McPhee has published widely on the history of modern France, including A Social History of France (2004) and Liberty or Death. The French Revolution (2016). He was appointed to the position of Deputy Vice- Chancellor (Academic) at the University of Melbourne in 2003 and was The University s first Provost in He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities (1997) and the Academy of Social Sciences (2003). He was awarded a Centenary Medal for services to education in 2003 and became a Member of the Order of Australia in Dr Sophie Matthiesson is curator of International Art at the National Gallery of Victoria. She has contributed to many of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibitions since She is a specialist in eighteenth-century French art and her doctoral research was on The prison-made object in the French Revolution. Sophie was coordinating curator of the 2014 Melbourne Winter Masterpieces exhibition, Monet s Garden. Dr Sophie Matthiesson

7 Melbourne Masterclasses at The University of Melbourne in the Faculty of Arts are high quality, non-award educational experiences open to all, offering a curated overview of an area of study. They are a combination of lectures, facilitated discussions for greater audience participation, including refreshments and exclusive and social learning opportunities. Event Details Cost: Light refreshments are included each day Series Pass: 5 double sessions, 12.5 hours: $350/ $300* (Gst inclusive) *University of Melbourne alumni, staff, and students Program details subject to change. Venues: Arts West Building, The University of Melbourne, Parkville National Gallery of Victoria (Wednesday 10 January only) Registrations: arts.unimelb.edu.au/engage/community-education Enquiries: Caterina Sciacca, Community Education Manager, Faculty of Arts caterina.sciacca@unimelb.edu.au or

8 arts.unimelb.edu.au/engage/community-education