Cour d’une maison, 19 rue des Gobelins
1926
Swedish architect Ferdinand Boberg captured this moody Parisian courtyard in 1926, sketching the weathered stone façade of a building at 19 rue des Gobelins. Notice the charming conical turret and the small clock face peering out from the wall, giving the structure a storybook quality that contrasts with the tall, industrial chimneys looming nearby. Boberg was famous for his extensive travel sketches, and here he uses loose, energetic strokes—likely charcoal with a touch of blue pastel for the sky—to bring a quiet, forgotten corner of the city to life. It feels like a fleeting snapshot of a Paris that was rapidly modernizing, yet still stubbornly holding onto its medieval roots.
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