Part of our new “Opera and the Other Arts” series
La Loge, (The Theatre Box), by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, is one of the most famous works in The Courtauld’s collection and considered a masterpiece of the Impressionist movement. Painted in 1874, Renoir depicts fashionable Parisians enjoying an evening out at the theatre. In La Loge, Renoir, perhaps surprisingly, turns our attention away from the stage and directs our gaze towards the audience, encouraging us to consider performance from the perspective of the performers, (the artists, musicians, dancers and composers) rather than the high society patrons.
In the first half of this lecture recital, Dr. De Mille will introduce us to Impressionist paintings that reflected the growing popularity of the theatre in Paris towards the end of the 19th century. She will focus on the lives of one of the most notorious Bohemian networks in Paris, and the exact contemporary of Puccini’s 1896 opera: one that includes a writer of songs (Vincent Hsypa), musician (Erik Satie), dancer (Jane Avril), and painter (of posters), Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
Alex Haigh (tenor) will then look at the reception of Don Giovanni in France, with the introduction of a ballet, recorded by Edgar Degas. He will compare and contrast this production with the modern artistic life of La Bohème – using the latter as the “real life” experience of the people who were actually performing in Don Giovanni.
Dr Charlotte de Mille curates a music series for The Courtauld Gallery, held on the 3rd Sunday of each month at 3pm, where she works for the Education Department. With them she co-authored “Animating Art History”, a joint initiative with Central St. Martin’s and the University of the Creative Arts, which was long-listed for a Clore Award in Museum Learning. Receiving her doctorate from The Courtauld Institute of Art in 2009, she has taught at The Courtauld Institute of Art, and the Universities of Sussex, Bristol, and St.Andrews. She also works freelance, and is Honorary Research Associate at The University of Bristol.
