Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, c. 1908

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“Every detail of the scene was familiar to me from the pictures and photographs I had seen–Notre Dame, set midstream on its island, widely arched Pont Neuf astride the prow of the green river garden of the vert-Galant, the somber pile of the Conciergerie with its menacing twin towers, evoking tragic memories, and the famous quays, lined with book cases where studious loafers frittered away precious time, instead of hustling along and “getting things done,” as good citizens should. All this I knew by heart and recognized. This was the Paris I knew, that all the world knew. And yet…Perhaps it was the very familiarity of the scene which made it so entrancing, so surprising, as if a dream picture had suddenly materialized. I had almost feared that this much-depicted aspect of Paris would appear too hackneyed, too banal, when seen in real life. But now I realized–and with what a thrill!–that so far from being an exhausted subject, it was still awaiting other painters.” - Abel Warshawsky