Curatorial Narrative In 1897, the year this painting was created, Etienne Moreau-Nlaton’s Palais des Beaux-Arts (Champs de Mars) Exposition Nationale de la Cramique exemplified the Art Nouveau style that dominated French art at the time. The artist’s bold application of paint in impasto strokes imbues the scene with a textured, almost three-dimensional quality. As one gazes upon this figural work, the viewer is struck by the vivid yellow of the ceramics on display, juxtaposed against the earthy tones of the decorative arts surrounding them.When viewed at its original scale of 44×63, this painting reveals a compositional structure that rewards close inspection. The artist’s deliberate use of spatial depth creates an atmospheric weight that draws the viewer’s eye through the scene. In the context of a luxury interior environment, this work can be thought to interact with its surroundings in a manner that emphasizes material pairing an