The Storm is an oil on canvas painting created by the French artist Pierre-Auguste Cot in 1880. Cot was a part of the Academic Classicism movement, which comes from the Académie des Beaux-Arts and included art that conformed to the French art academic standard with Neoclassical and Romantic influences. Cot depicts a young couple taking cover from a rainstorm, using the girl’s skirt as temporary shelter. Some have speculated that this piece was inspired by the French novel Paul and Virginie by Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, while others have proposed the romance Daphnis and Chloe by the ancient Greek writer Longus. The French and classical inspirations, which fit the standard of Academic Art, conformed to the Greco-Roman
standards of Winkleman, as well as the Salon which he achieved success in during his thirties, and died shortly after at age forty-six.

The Storm achieved major success at the Salon in 1873. The Paris Salon was an annual influential art exhibit, in which art was defined by members of the elite and reduced to a single standard. The success of this painting drove Catherine Lorillard Wolfe, Cot’s cousin, to acquire this painting in 1880; the Met received this painting as a bequest. Many famous artists and pieces that most people know today, were known for breaking the conventions of their time, such as contemporaries of Cot like Manet, who rejected the standards of the Salon. This begs the question: Is success determined by following the rules, or rejecting the status quo? There is a
place in art for those who do both, as seen by the vast and various selection found at the Met.

Also found at the Met is At the Lapin Agile, an oil on canvas painting created by the
Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in 1905, during his Rose Period. Asked by the owner of the bar, Picasso painted this portrait a few years after his friend Carles Casegemas committed suicide.

Him and Casegemas moved to Paris in 1900, where Casegemas became obsessed with a married seamstress named Germiane Pichot, who did not share his feelings. Picasso and his friend were fond of a local cabaret club called the Lapin Agile, and on February 17th, 1901, Casegemas shot Pichot with a revolver and missed. Soon after, he shot himself in the head, an event that marked Picasso’s onset of depression and the beginning of his blue period. In this painting, Picasso portrays himself as Harlequin. Sitting next to him is Germaine Pichot, whom after Casegemas’ death, he had an affair with. The guitarist depicted in the background is the bar owner, Frédéric Gérard. The muted and melancholy tones in this painting contrast with the refreshing and innocent depiction of the couple. The fictional snapshot of the pure, young couple facing the storm stands in stark contrast with the depiction of Picasso’s alter ego, staring off into space as he grips onto his drink, in the same bar where his friend’s tragic death took place, a reflection of
the reality he was facing at the time.

This work not only has a complex, and deep emotional connection with the artist, but is painted by the very famous artist Pablo Picasso. Any of his pieces would be valuable, but At the Lapin Agile is considered one of the most expensive paintings as in 1989, it sold for $40.7 million at a Sotheby’s auction. The person who bought the painting Walter H. Annenberg gave it to the Met, where it still hangs today. This piece speaks to what society has perceived artists to be or live like, such as the stereotype of the tortured artist. The emotional turmoil and anguish Picasso felt, became a backdrop to the types of art he would produce and gain fame for. The
story behind a piece is often what reveals to the viewer a glimpse of the mind of the artist. This piece and its story shaped not only how we look at art, but how we look at artists, through the emotions and stories they portray.

These two portraits have revealed what art means from an individual perspective, as well as a societal and cultural perspective. The Storm reveals how aesthetic standards have influenced some artists to create within the bounds, while motivating others to break through the guidelines of what is commonly accepted, while, At the Lapin Agile demonstrates how portraiture can be a way to process inner emotions and reckon with traumatic losses. These two portraits of differing artists, perspectives, and societies can be found hanging in the Met, waiting to tell their uniquely enthralling histories

Bibliography:
● The Met metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/486162
● The Met metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/435997
● My Modern Met mymodernmet.com/paris-salon-history/
● Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Storm_(painting)
● Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Auguste_Cot
● Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au_Lapin_Agile

● The Collector thecollector.com/what-type-of-artist-was-pierre-auguste-cot/