City of Cinema: Paris 1850–1907
City of Cinema: Paris 1850–1907
Placing cinema in the context of 19th-century Parisian visual culture, City of Cinema: Paris 1850–1907 explores how film emerged amid a wave of social, political, artistic, and technological developments. The exhibition brings together paintings, sculpture, posters, prints, photography, and film to reflect the range of artistic experiments that culminated in cinema as a mass medium. The story begins on the streets of Paris, where a diverse populace formed a collective audience for visual spectacle. The exhibition proceeds to domestic and theatrical sites of entertainment, where sociable viewing took place. Moving to local and global sites of production, City of Cinema considers how individuals drew upon technology and fine arts to explore the new medium's potential. Culminating with a purpose-built Salle du Cinema (movie theater), City of Cinema reveals how citizens became spectators, and how film evolved from novel entertainment to the greatest art form of the 20th century.
In-Gallery Projections
The Théâtre Optique will be operated live in the gallery throughout the run of the exhibition, showing Reynaud’s animated short Around the Beach Cabin (1894).
Performance times: Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, and 4:30
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles and the musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris.
Generous support is provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. Additional support is provided by Gallery 19C.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, Justin Lubliner, Jennifer and Mark McCormick, Kelsey Lee Offield, Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Image: Still from the film Exposition Universelle 1900, Gaumont, 1900, Document GP Archives, Collection Gaumont
- Feb 20–Jul 10, 2022
- Resnick Pavilion
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles and the musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Paris.
Generous support is provided by The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation. Additional support is provided by Gallery 19C.
This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Kevin J. Chen, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, Justin Lubliner, Jennifer and Mark McCormick, Kelsey Lee Offield, Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Image: Still from the film Exposition Universelle 1900, Gaumont, 1900, Document GP Archives, Collection Gaumont
Installation Photography
Media
Three clips—discussing the Expositions Universelles, the Pantomimes Lumineuses, and the Salle de Cinéma—from a 53-minute documentary, written and directed by Stefan Cornic, produced by Jean-Marie Nizan, and featuring interviews with Thierry Frémaux, Bertrand Lemoine, Dominique Païni, and Vanessa Schwartz, and the voice of Hester Wilcox. (c) ARTE France, Beall Productions, Musées d'Orsay et de l'Orangerie.
When listening inside the exhibition, please be considerate of others and use headphones.