The Flàneur: the Dandy of 19th century Paris with Sylvia Sagona

Forever associated with the Impressionist streetscapes of Paris, the flàneur, man of leisure, connoisseur of the boulevards and urban explorer, owes much to the unlikely popularity of all things English in Second Empire Paris.

Influenced by the influential Regency figure of fashion, George 'Beau' Brummell (1778 1840) , the flàneur, always male, expressed the angst and loneliness of the modern city so eloquently expressed in the poetry of Charles Baudelaire.

Sylvia Sagona 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. She has taught in Paris on 19th century art and literature in partnership with the French Centre d' Etudes pédagogiques de Sèvres, and in Rome with the Università Roma 2 on how the Popes used the city layout for Christian propaganda.

Sylvia retired to create her own cultural travel company, Travels Through Time, and led study tours through Europe until 2023. During this time, she worked with the French-German television channel Arte and SBS to create a documentary on the invention of the department store. She has recently spent time in Rome filming a YouTube series on notorious Roman women from Vestal Virgins to Fascist spies.

Your ticket includes tea or Market Lane coffee served before the presentation, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

This event is presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This program is generously supported by The Sir Wilfred and C H (Roger) Brookes Charitable Trust.

Image: Gustave Caillebotte, Le Pont d'Europe, c. 1881 (detail). private collection, Petit Palais, Geneva.