Sublime & Seedy: Delacroix on rue Visconti

Improbable Walks, Season 5, Episode 6: In this episode, we check out the atmospheric rue Visconti on the Left Bank, tucked around the corner from chic rue Jacob. This sometimes-maligned little street was home to painter Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863). This is a self-portrait. Visconti is where he painted his friend George Sand & her lover Chopin--he even had a piano brought up to his studio, so he could paint Chopin playing & Sand listening. This preliminary sketch is in the Louvre; unfortunately the final oil canvas was never finished and was cut into pieces after the artist died (probably to sell off the more marketable portrait of George Sand.) Next, animal sketches from Delacroix's journal, and then a portrait by the famous Nadar of writer Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) who ran a printing press here for 2 difficult years. Next, Claude Monet's best friend & Auguste Renoir's flat-mate, Frédéric Bazille (1841 - 1870). Bazille painted himself here in 1866, and the studio, Rue Visconti, in 1867, and then this much brighter Batignolles studio on rue de la Condamine in 1870. Notice how both studio walls are covered in both Bazille's work and that of his friends. The last photo shows the street around when Bazille lived there, in a photo by the amazing photographer of Paris, Charles Marville. If you can read French, wrap up your exploration of quirky rue Visconti by checking out this wonderful history of more recent art happenings on the former rue des Marais.