The Quiet Observer of Paris and Venice Marcel Cogniet lived a life shaped by the light and movement of the cities he painted. Born in Paris in 1857, he spent his years capturing the specific atmosphere of urban life and the stillness of the water. His work often focused on the small, lived-in details of a city: a balcony overflowing with flowers, the way a street looks under a fresh layer of snow, or the slow drift of sailboats in a Ve…