01 Painting, Streets of Paris, by the artists of the time, Part 33 - With Footnotes

Eugene Galien-Laloue, French, 1854-1941 

Le Marche aux Puces/ Flea market

Gouache on thin board 

13 x 16 1/8 inches (33 x 41 cm)

Private collection

Fleas are parasitic insects that have always been assumed, rightly or wrongly, to infest the old clothes full of vermin sold by the scavengers , "fleas included". The expression "flea market" became quickly popular and appeared in 1900 on the legends of postcards representing views of the Porte de Clignancourt or Avenue Michelet 1 . More on flee markets in Paris

Eugène Galien-Laloue (1854–1941) was a French artist of French-Italian parents and was born in Paris on December 11, 1854. He was a populariser of street scenes, usually painted in autumn or winter. His paintings of the early 1900s accurately represent the era in which he lived: a happy, bustling Paris, la Belle Époque, with horse-drawn carriages, trolley cars and its first omnibuses. Galien-Laloue's works are valued not only for their contribution to 20th-century art, but for the actual history, which they document. His work can be seen at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Louvier; Musée des Beaux-Arts, La Rochelle; Mulhouse, France.

A typical Galien-Laloue painting depicts sidewalks and avenues crowded with people or tourists mingling before the capital's monuments. He also painted the landscapes of Normandy and Seine-et-Marne, as well as military scenes he was commissioned to produce in 1914. The Republic of France selected Galien-Laloue to work as a 'war artist,' both during the Franco-Prussian War and World War I, chiefly in watercolor. More on Eugène Galien-Laloue

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