Cinema at Last! Arts, Images and Entertainment in France, 1833–1907

With animations by the Lumière brothers and films by the likes of Charles Pathé displayed alongside Impressionist paintings by Claude Monet, Gustave Caillebotte and others, this exhibition at the Musée d’Orsay (28 September–16 January 2022) looks at how from its earliest years cinema engaged with other art forms. Above all it explores, through some 300 exhibits, the growing fascination with spectacle during the era – whether in the form of panoramas, wax museums, or the newly spectacular incarnation of the modern city itself – to remind us that cinema was, as Jean-Luc Godard said, a creature of the 19th century. Find out more from the Musée d’Orsay’s website.

Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

On the Pont de l’Europe (1866–67), Gustave Caillebotte.

On the Pont de l’Europe (1876–77), Gustave Caillebotte. Photo: © Kimbell Art Museum

Théatre des Menus-Plaisirs … tous les soirs à 8h 1⁄2 Les Invisibles (1883), Emile Levy. Photo: © Photo BnF

Le cinéma Gaumont-Palace, place de Clichy (c. 1913), Louis Abel-Truchet. CCØ Paris Musées/Musée Carnavalet – Histoire de Paris

Personnages, deux chiens et voiture à impériale sur le pont (1885–95), Henri Rivière.

Personnages, deux chiens et voiture à impériale sur le pont du Louvre (1885–95), Henri Rivière. Photo: © RMN-Grand Palais (musée d’Orsay)/Hervé Lewandowski/ADAGP, Paris, 2021