View from Notre Dame

The article discussing the linkage of french history and the process of modernization to french art being developed at the time by T.J. Clark is interesting, informative, and frustrating. Lucky for me i have been to paris, however my french expertise is at a minimum, which made this article difficult to read being that most of the imagery i found unable to imagine being that i have never heard of many of the French places mentioned. The descriptions of the paintings offered insight into the French style of life during the beginning of the modern era, but i thought more artists could have been mentioned. Both Van Gogh and Manet are great examples of important artworks depicting French life and modes of thought, however they are also both very controversial and different artists. I feel that Manet is somewhat on the periphery of common french art for his works are orginially spectacular and tkae on a life of their own. I feel that in order to create the connection between Haussmannization and the fate of the French painting, more tyical artoworks of the time should at least be mentioned in order to create a more comprehensive expression on how the two are inextricably linked.

Despite the small shortcomings of the article that made it somewhat frustrating to read, the important notion of history, art and social life are laid bare. Haussmannization shows how by physically changing the city is connected to changing ideas of life and modernity which in turn changes the canons of contemporary art. As life changes, depictions of life must also change, and what becomes important in art becomes more visible as landscapes and genre scenes become altered to meet a new style of living. Another interesting point made in the article is the difference between form and order, in which the question that arises is does Hausmann's modern France give the city form or merely create order. the text implies that the two can be mutually exclusive, for many of the authors who were writing during the time of the up and coming modernity felt that the modernization was utterly conforming and similar to eachother. Buildings started looking the same and the broad streets stole mystery from the grooves and curves of losing oneself in the city. However, the only France that i have evr known is the one tat exists now, hiwhc in my opinion is filled with a uniquely delicate form that cannot be found elsewhere. Thus, as the order of life changes, both physically and socially, the form and symbolic images of a city becomes shadowed or more apparent depending on who is doing the interpretations.