(Cafe Society, Paris)

Zsigmond Antal Walleshausen-Cseleny

Artist Zsigmond Antal Walleshausen von Cselenyi, whose name and dates vary, was a prolific renaissance man whose oeuvre included paintings and fine prints, poetry and other published writings, theater set, costume, and marionette design, and a love of travel. Despite all of his output, a proper chronological map of his life is not easy to come by; however, he appears to have taken a particular liking to Paris, returning several times throughout his career and eventually settling there.

In this Parisian cafe scene from 1915, featuring a two-person band and a fashionable high society crowd, the room vibrates with a sharp energy made more evident in Walleshausen’s use of thin, angular lines. The Great War was still relatively new and the desire for normalcy meant that cafes and cabarets provided much needed relief. Here, a small band with a guitar and snare drum perform to a crowded room, dancers pressed elbow to elbow at the front, patrons drinking at their tables at the back. No hint of the chaos surrounding them is presented by the artist, who gets lost in his portrayal of a whirling, welcome distraction.