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    Art and About

    Life & Luxury: MFAH reveals the art of the lavish high life for socialites in18th Century Paris

    Joel Luks
    Sep 27, 2011 | 12:19 am
    Life & Luxury: MFAH reveals the art of the lavish high life for socialites in18th Century Paris
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    A hurried shower, breakfast on the go, makeup put on in the car and off to work. This all-too-familiar routine — as ordinary and matter-of-fact as it may seem for even the most accomplished of the glitterati — would be considered uncivilized, even churlish, for the model 18th-century Parisian socialite.

    Instead, the customary semi-private toilette ritual — not meaning the bathroom, but rather the activities around getting dressed, as introduced by the court of Louis XIV in the 17th century — would last hours in the company of a chamber maid and wardrobe assistant providing pampering services akin to the modern-day spa. It would also be permissible to attend to light business affairs, casually receiving visitants while donning undergarments or a dressing gown.

    Sadly, the toilette is one of the forgotten sumptuous luxuries of the era — one that is featured in Life & Luxury: The Art of Living in 18th Century Paris on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston through Dec. 11.

     

      In collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the exhibition chronicles the everyday life of the haute one percent then residing in the City of Lights. 

    In collaboration with the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the exhibition chronicles the everyday life of the haute one percent then residing in the City of Lights. It showcases 160-plus paintings, decorative arts and exquisite objects that survived the revolution — silver, porcelain, furniture, music instruments, scientific gadgets, couture, clocks and time pieces — on loan from 26 museums and private collections. These items would otherwise be scattered around the globe.

    The enlightenment was a period of financial growth and stability during which wealthy patrons could afford objects of exquisite beauty. It was also a time when the dividing line between fine arts and applied arts wasn't so clearly defined as it is today.

    The exhibition's substance can be summarized by the first four paintings. Nicolas Lancret’s oil-on-copper allegorical depictions of The Four Times of Day — Morning, Midday, Afternoon and Evening — illustrate the essence of taste and etiquette of the era, with a brilliant, metallic luminosity that mirrors the subject's aesthetic.

    Ambling through Life and Luxury lets one walk a day in the life of the Parisian upper echelon.

    Following the morning toilette, the galleries focus on business affairs, daily correspondence and record keeping in the precursor to the modern-day home office. Bureaux — meaning home office — sounds so much more exquisite (and expensive). On display are a Bureau Plat (writing table) from circa 1720-1725 decorated with gilt bronze, an ornate 1758 gilt bronze clock and a duo of immense curved Rococo corner cabinets — each decorated with gilt bronze-mount metaphors of arts and sciences — that flank the desk.

    All these pieces are attributed to furniture-maker, sculptor and metalsmith Charles Cressent (1685-1768). Many of his pieces are part of the Louvre's permanent collection.

     

      Ambling through Life and Luxury lets one walk a day in the life of the Parisian upper echelon. 

    Moving on to the study of science, there are magnification tools, maps, globes and books that show an enlightened interest in deciphering the natural world. On display are Encyclopédie by philosopher Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert, and Histoire Naturelle by the Comte de Buffon.

    A meal would not be complete without elegant porcelain and refined silver pieces. A still-life sculpture handcrafted by François-Thomas Germain depicts a rabbit, two birds, morel mushrooms and truffles aimed to awaken the palate by engaging all the senses, showing a meal favored by the elite.

    The execution is immaculate and achieves a level of virtuosic realism suited for an indulgent, yet genteel dinner.

    At dusk, live music — compositions by Rameau and Couperin were le dernier cri — and card games took center stage as the preferred leisure activity. A multi-purpose reversible gambling table and porcelain betting chips with their matching storage boxes reveal that beauty and stylish design was found in even practical pieces.

    Anything else would be uncivilized.

    With all this mixing and mingling, one may find it peculiar that when the time came to be in the arms of Morpheus, Parisians turned to quiet and personal prayer in the privacy of their own chamber.

    For this CultureMap adventure, I enlisted the help of Helga K. Aurisch, MFAH curator of European art, and Charissa Bremer-David, associate curator of sculpture and decorative arts at the Getty Museum to walk through the collection and offer insights not evident to the naked eye. The information was so fascinating that this will the be first of a three-part series on the subject.

    We begin with the morning toilette (see the video at the top of the page).

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    Movie Review

    New Superman movie forges into the future while honoring the past

    Alex Bentley
    Jul 11, 2025 | 3:30 pm
    David Corenswet in Superman
    Photo by Jessica Miglio
    David Corenswet in Superman.

    When the character of Superman was invented in 1938, it was perhaps easier to see the world in good and bad terms. Fascism was already on the rise in Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the idea of an all-powerful superhero who stood up for people in need was a welcome one. In the nearly 90 years since, though, the world and the character have undergone multiple evolutions, and the thought of someone who is purely good is often met with cynicism or worse.

    The new Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, puts the superhero (or metahuman, as the film calls him and similar creatures) squarely in the midst of the modern world, with geopolitical conflicts, mega-corporations, and social media all combining to make the altruism of Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) questionable. That skepticism even extends to his coworker/girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whose knowledge of his exploits puts her in a tricky position personally and professionally.

    Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is out to dominate the world and take down Superman, with his eponymous corporation and vast group of underlings dedicated to doing both. Superman is generally a one-man fighting crew, but he’s occasionally aided by a group calling themselves the Justice Gang, comprised of heroes many have never heard of like Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a version of Green Lantern; Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), a flying metahuman; and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who knows all kinds of technology.

    One of the best things about this new version of Superman is that it mostly dispenses with introductions, putting the audience in a world where Superman is already a well-known quantity who’s adored by many and hated by some. Gunn has used his new position as co-CEO of DC Studios to honor the past of the hero and take him into the future. With the 1978 John Williams theme song echoing throughout and Corenswet giving off Christopher Reeve vibes, it’s clear Gunn wants audiences to feel nostalgia while still getting something new.

    He also appears to want viewers to fight against the negativity that the modern world can bring. The plot involves manipulation of the public, usually at the hands of Luthor, through bombastic talk shows, political theater, and social media, the latter of which — in a great joke — comes to involve hundreds of typing monkeys. The film could be read as a rebuttal of many real-world ills as, despite Luthor’s machinations, many choose to continue to believe in the goodness of Superman.

    There is a lot going on in the film, but somehow it never comes off as overly complicated. Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane and Luthor’s attempts at taking him down are given the most prominence, with everything else supporting those two main things. The Justice Gang is a fun addition, with Mr. Terrific becoming the breakout hero of the group. The addition of the (CGI) dog Krypto provides levity, poignant moments, and unexpectedly great action scenes. The only part that gets somewhat short shrift is the crew of The Daily Planet, with everyone besides Lois and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) getting little more than face time.

    Being the new Superman is a lot to live up to, but Corenswet is completely up to the job. He, like Reeve, plays the character as someone who is earnest but not naive, a quality that comes through even when he’s in the middle of fight scenes. Brosnahan is also fantastic, providing a nice balance to the relationship while also proving the character’s own worth. Hoult makes for a great new version of Luthor, and Gathegi nearly makes the case that Mr. Terrific should get a starring film of his own.

    Just as he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has shown that success can be found through making characters people want to see. Not everyone in this Superman will be familiar to viewers, but in the end a group of people working together toward a goal that serves the common good is one worth watching and cheering for.

    ---

    Superman is now playing in theaters.

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