In association with The Arts Society Wellington

Renoir captures the joie de vivre of a lazy summer lunch on the banks of the Seine at the restaurant La Fournaise. We can feel the breeze, smell the fruit, touch the dog’s coat and hear the animated chatter of a group of artistic friends. This carefree sensual image of inter–class mingling deliberately erases the recent trauma of the Commune of 1871 and heralds the beginning of the Belle Epoque. This lecture goes behind the painting to examine the real social and personal tragedies that Renoir always elides.

Sylvia completed her post graduate studies of a Maitrise ès Lettres at the University of Aix en Provence where she lived and lectured at the University of Aix-Marseilles before taking up a lectureship in the Department of French and Italian studies at the University of Melbourne. Each year she would teach a university course in Paris on 19th century art and literature in partnership with the French Centre d' Etudes Pédagogiques de Sèvres as well a course on the Baroque age in Rome with the Universitå Roma 2. Sylvia retired to create her own cultural travel company, Travels Through Time, taking studies tours through Europe until 2023. During this time, she worked with the French/ German television channel, Arte, and SBS, to create and film a documentary on the Invention of the Department store. It was the beginning of a move from art and literature to film. Sylvia has her own You Tube channel. In 2024 she filmed a series in Rome on four extraordinary women and in 2025 researched and filmed another series on four Belle Epoque courtesans.  In 2026 she was back in Rome to create another series on the Baroque master Bernini.

Image Credit: The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Nrico is licensed under CC BY 2.0.