Palazzo Blu, Pisa

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta

The pink ribbon

Paul César Helleu

Mme Helleu lisant debout

The Ary Jan Gallery, which specialises in Belle Époque painting, is delighted to lend two paintings to the Palazzo Blu in Pisa for their exhibition dedicated to this pivotal period in art history.

This exhibition takes visitors to the heart of late 19th-century Paris, the capital of elegance and modernity, as told through masterpieces from prestigious international museums - including the Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Uffizi Galleries, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, Palazzo Te - as well as important private collections presented to the public for the first time.

The exhibition celebrates the charm of the Belle Époque, a period when art, literature, music and customs made Paris the cultural centre of the world. The absolute protagonists are the Italian artists who chose the French capital as their adopted home, including Giovanni Boldini, Giuseppe De Nittis and Vittorio Corcos, who were able to capture the spirit of their time with a personal and refined eye, becoming leading figures on the European art scene.

The exhibition is divided into several thematic sections that trace the key moments of those years, from the political upheavals of 1870 to the birth of modern Paris, recreating the richness and variety of a unique era.On display are the sophisticated portraits of Boldini, Blanche and Sargent, the urban views of De Nittis, the impressionist atmospheres of Zandomeneghi and the cosmopolitan elegance of Mariano Fortuny and the Maison Goupil.
These works bear witness to the vitality of an era in which creativity and social life, scientific progress and new lifestyles helped shape the image of Paris during the Belle Époque, which remains an icon of charm and modernity to this day.