De Moderne Tijd - Volume 7, Issue 2/3, 2023

Through (other) artists’ eyes. Henri Evenepoel in Paris between pompierism and modernity

In 1892 the aspiring Belgian painter Henri Evenepoel (1872-1899) moved from Brussels to Paris to finish his artistic training. In hundreds of lengthy letters to his family and friends, he described his impressions of the French capital and its inhabitants. The letters not only provide us with a vivid and amusing picture of fin-de-siècle Paris; they also show that Evenepoel saw and experienced the city through the eyes of modern Frech artists like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Jean-Louis Forain. Their work had drawn him to Paris in the first place, but it was, paradoxically, Evenepoel’s academic training that reinforced his habit of looking through the eyes of other painters and thus, eventually, shaped his artistic practice.

The Black Zone around the City of light. Roaming around the slums of Paris

This article examines articles and letters written by the Dutch travel journalist and lecturer Mary Pos (1904-1987) who visited Paris in 1934 and 1937. What was her motivation to explore and report on the ‘slums’ of the capital city? Which details and figures of speech does she employ to represent the Parisian poor? Was Pos one of the ‘slummers’ who, as argued by Dürr and Jaffe (2012), produced not only cliché and schematic images, but also more nuanced and positive portraits of the inhabitants of poor neighborhoods? In order to be able to answer these questions I will zoom in on Pos’ depiction of the ‘zonards’, residents of the infamous Black Zone.

Bienvenue chez les apaches. Leo Faust as a guide through the Parisian underworld

During the interwar years, Leo Faust worked in Paris as a correspondent for several Dutch newspapers, author of multiple tourist-guides, and owner of a Dutch restaurant. He cleverly combined these roles in order to convince potential tourists that they could rely on him to safely guide them through the Parisian night life. This article analyses Faust’s books on Paris and his advertisements in the press with the aim of reconstructing the kind of touristic experience he offered to Dutch visitors in Paris, and to establish how his representation of the City of Light taps into the wider cultural imaginary.

W.G.C. Byvanck and the ‘Soul of Paris’

When Willem Byvanck published his Paris 1891 in January 1892, most reactions in the Netherlands were lukewarm, if not negative. Lodewijk van Deyssel, in particular, criticized the work, arguing that Byvanck “borrowed” nearly all his information from other sources. This view was far too short-sighted and, besides, neglected the work’s originality. In Paris 1891, Byvanck shows how a number of French artists used art to share their own sensory experiences with readers and spectators. The work of art, in Byvanck’s eyes, thus becomes an agent capable of inducing unprecedented aesthetic pleasure.

The train monster and other inconveniences. The Paris travel journals of Truus and Marie van Eeghen, 1877

This article is based on the unpublished travel journals of two wealthy Amsterdam-based sisters who visited Paris in October 1877 with their father and brother. Truus (21) and Marie (23) van Eeghen stayed in the French capital for a week, which was for the most part a classic ‘Buildungsreise’. However, on several occasions the sisters were unexpectedly confronted with the other, rougher side of Paris. Alongside the elegant boulevards there were still the ruins of monuments destroyed during the recent revolution of the Commune. In their diaries, the Van Eeghen sisters also mention several unpleasant encounters with strangers. It started with the uncouth ‘monster’ they had to share a train compartment with and ended with an angry slum dweller, who publicly cursed the Amsterdam tourists for being rich. All in all, it was an educational trip.

Specator in Touristry. J.A. Naeff’s Parisian Trips around the World

J.A. Naeff (1893-1942) is a Dutch former organizer in the tourism industry as well as travel writer and British spy. From December 1936 to May 1939 he wrote a weekly ‘tourism’ column for Haagsche post. In it, he shared his extensive experiences abroad and the latest tips and tricks for the contemporary tourist. Paris was a favorite destination. By discussing and analyzing his articles on the Paris World Exhibition in 1937 and a culinary tour around non-French restaurants in 1938, this article will show how Naeff experienced Paris.