UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

café, shop, streetscape, tree.

Some variations in address and punctuation given in the title are as follows:


'Café Corazza - Paris' (1903, Whistler). 3
'Café Corazza, Paris' (1903/1935, possibly Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958)). 4
'Café Corazza, Palais Royal' (1909, Howard Mansfield (1849-1938)). 5


'Café Corazza, Paris' is based on the title authorised by the artist.

In the foreground are two trees in full leaf. Behind this are railings to left and right of steps leading to a tall arched entrance. To left and right are large windows with the restaurant name partly visible: 'C-RAZZA' on the left and '--ORAZZA' on the right, and 'RESTAURA --' and another partly legible sign, possibly reading '--SUC--' over the door.

The Cafe Corazza is in the Palais Royale, Paris, and is still in operation (2012).

Photograph ©G.Petri, Whistler Etchings Project.

It was a famous café: it opened in 1797 and was the headquarters of the Jacobins, and often visited by Napoléon Bonaparte. It was founded by a 'glacier' Corazza and run as a restaurant by Giudicelli and Eugène Douix, 'ancien cuisinier' of Charles X. Later it was owned by M. Schmidt and run by T. Chevalier and known for its 'bonne cuisine'. 6

Whistler frequented it in the 1890s - indeed he used their notepaper (headed CAFÉ CORAZZA / RESTAURANT DOUIX / 12, GALERIE MONTPENSIER / PALAIS-ROYAL / PARIS) when writing to William Heinemann (1863-1920) and William Webb (b. ca 1851) in 1894. 7 In a later letter he mentioned to Miss Birnie Philip, 'the little fat waiter with side whiskers who used to wait upon us at the corner table of the Cafe Corrazza'. 8

Other café scenes by Whistler include an early etching, Soupe à trois sous [64], a lithograph The Little Café au Bois [c091], dating from 1894, another late etching, Café Luxembourg [436], and late drawings, Man sitting at an outdoor café table [m1635] and The Café - Algiers [m1651].