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Charles Baudelaire: Textual Analysis

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Charles Baudelaire was Parisian born, and lived from 1821- 1867 who was a French poet that defined the characteristics of modernity in paintings in his 1859 text “The Painter of Modern Life”. He explains Modernity as the transcendence of beauty, fashion, and emotion through time. In Theodore Wores’ (1881) New Year’s Day in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Baudelaire’s modernity idea can be seen within the painting even though his writing and Wores’ painting were created at different times. In addition to Modernity, there is Orientalism and Exoticism that are shown in the painting. Baudelaire’s concept of Modernity through the ephemerality, the flaneur, and transcendence of time can be depicted in his Wores’ painting. Wore’s painting was about the …show more content…

In Wores’ painting, the Chinese children and old man are the subject of the moment and are not paying attention to the viewer. The way the painter positions the viewer in a flaneur fashion is because of the observing point the viewer takes on. Flaneur, is French for stroller, lounger, or loafer; it refers to the act of observing or strolling by with the intent of looking at something. This effect is seen in this painting and originally in Jean- Leon Gerome, The Snake Charmer, c. 1870. Both paintings have the fleeting moment in time where the viewer strolls by in fascination of seeing the life of a different culture. Orientalism is the term that describes the fascination or disgust of observing a different culture not dominant to its own. The moment in time where these little girls and the old man are exchanging their time is the fleeting moment as well. It is such an ordinary moment however it says so much about who they are. I think Wore made the Chinese seem normal in the painting, keeping in mind that at this time Chinese people were not accepted so easily in western civilization. It is truly an Exoticism because of the Chinese culture that is not familiar with white males. The clothing the children have on are traditional which goes against Baudelaire’s point of using clothing that is from the present day. However, the painting is presenting one special occasion where the children are wearing their traditional clothing that is actually their present day representation of what a traditional clothing would

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