An exhibition titled 'Café Society: Art and Sociability in Belle Epoque Paris' is opening, featuring over 50 paintings that explore the role of cafés in late 19th-century Parisian social and artistic life. The show will travel from the Ordrupgaard museum in Copenhagen to two venues in the United States: the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis and the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha.
The exhibition highlights how cafés served as crucial hubs for avant-garde artists like Vincent van Gogh, providing both subject matter and a community. It includes three Van Gogh café paintings, with one, 'Restaurant Rispal at Asnières,' making the transatlantic journey, while the others remain in Europe. The show contextualizes these works within the broader café culture that fueled artistic exchange and modern life in Paris.