Edmond Grandjean (1844-1909). The Place Clichy, 1896. Oil on canvas, 33 1/2 x 51 1/8 in., Musée Carnavalet. © Musée Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

Paris and Portland have more in common than might seem apparent at first glance. They’re both defined by rivers and bridges. They’re both filled with people obsessing about days of wine and roses. And as the 20th century opened, both hosted World’s Fairs, which at the time were events that gave a city status, with a capital S.

That's the thinking behind the Portland Art Museum's new exhibit "Paris 1900: City of Entertainment," a collaboration with Paris' Petit Palais museum, Nashville's Frist Art Museum and the Cincinnati Art Museum. The exhibit opens Saturday, June 8, and runs through Sept. 8.

Mary Weaver Chapin, the museum’s curator of prints and drawings and an expert on 19th-century Paris, described “Paris 1900” as an exhibit that tells the story of art and life in the Belle Époque era in France, which ran from roughly 1871, the end of the Franco-Prussian War, to 1914, when World War I began.

Here are nine things to know about “Paris 1900: City of Entertainment,” which Chapin recently discussed at a preview for museum members and supporters.

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Georges Paul Leroux (1877-1957). The International Exhibition's Palace of Optics, 1900. Color lithograph, 31 3/4 x 23 5/8 in., Musee Carnavalet. © Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

1. It began as the 2014 exhibit "Paris 1900: La Ville Spectacle" at the Petit Palais, which was constructed for the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Brian Ferriso, the Portland Art Museum's director and chief curator, saw the exhibit and thought, "We need to get this show to America," according to Chapin.

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Georges Souillet (1861-1947/57). Construction of the Metro, Place Saint-Michel, 1905. Oil on canvas, 15 x 18 1/8 in., Musee Carnavalet. © Musee Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

2. The exhibit's central concept is Paris as a showcase of the arts and sciences, starting with the 1900 World's Fair, Chapin said. To prepare for it, the city undertook projects such as the Métro transit system's first line. Visitors entered the fair through a giant arch decorated from bottom to top with increasingly complex life forms, capped with "the finest expression of life on Earth, which is of course the French woman," Chapin said.

3. Another section of the exhibit focuses on Paris as an artistic capital. "Paris was a huge attraction for artists of many, many nationalities" who worked in numerous styles, Chapin said.

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Eugene-Samuel Grasset (1845-1917), Paul Vever (1851-1915), and Henri Vever (1854-1942). "Assyrian" Comb, ca. 1900. Horn, repousse gold, cloisonne enamel, and sapphires. 5 7/8 x 3 7/8 x 3/8 in. Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais. © Patrick Pierrain / Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

4. An Art Nouveau vignette features glassware, furniture, painting, jewelry and accessories, and graphic arts, showing how extensive the style was in Paris and throughout Europe, Chapin said.

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Antonio de La Gandara (1861-1917). Portrait of Madame Rene Prejelan, ca. 1903. Oil on canvas. 51 3/4 x 27 in., Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais. © Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

5. One exhibit gallery highlights "La Parisienne," or The Paris Woman, who filled the exalted yet proscribed role of being beautiful and ornamental, Chapin said, showing an Antonio de La Gandara portrait of a woman that emphasizes a dress over the person wearing it. Noting the trend in elaborate, feather-trimmed hats at the time, Chapin added, "It was a great moment to be a fashionista in Paris, but it was a very bad moment to be a bird."

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Jean Leonce Burret (1866-1915). Georges Richard Bicycles, 1890. Color lithograph, 36 1/4 x 49 1/2 in., Paris, Musee Carnavalet. Musee Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

6. Another gallery takes visitors to the streets of Paris – "strolling the streets of Paris is one of the great pastimes and pleasures of this beautiful city," Chapin said. It was during this era that bicycles began appearing in the city, serving as "a great vehicle of liberation for women," Chapin said, showing a painting of a "dangerous new woman" who's removed her hat and exchanged her dress for a pair of culottes.

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Henri Gervex (1852-1929), An Evening at the Pre-Catelan, 1909. Oil on canvas, 85 3/8 x 125 1/4 in., Musee Carnavalet. Musee Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

7. Still another section of the exhibit celebrates Paris by night. "No one would argue that Paris was the undisputed queen of entertainment," Chapin said. The exhibit presents several types of Parisian diversions, from stage actress Sarah Bernhardt to water slides to early movie palaces built to hold thousands.

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Jean Renoir's 1955 film "French Cancan" is part of Northwest Film Center's Belle Epoque series, a companion to the Portland Art Museum's "Paris 1900" exhibit.

8. Supplementary "Paris 1900" events include a Belle Époque film series curated by Northwest Film Center, a walking tour centered on the 1905 Portland World's Fair and its impact on the city, and a speaker series that includes the talk "Empire and Memory at the Portland World's Fair."

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Gaston Roux. Nighttime festivities at the International Exposition of 1889 under the Eiffel Tower, 1889. Oil on canvas, 25 5/8 x 37 3/8 in., Musee Carnavalet. © Musee Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

9. Won't have much time to view "Paris 1900"? Chapin selected five must-sees in the exhibit.

Gaston Roux's painting "Nighttime festivities at the International Exposition of 1889 under the Eiffel Tower," 1889. "During the Belle Époque, French engineering gained international renown, especially with the construction of Gustav Eiffel's controversial tower," Chapin said. "Although originally intended as a temporary structure to be torn down after the 1889 fair, the tower soon became an emblem of the city."

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Camille Pissarro (1830-1903). Pont Royal and Pavillon de Flore, 1903. Oil on canvas, 21 1/2 x 25 5/8 in., Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais. © Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

Camille Pissarro's painting "Pont Royal and Pavillon de Flore," 1903. "Pissarro, one of the original members of the Impressionists, favored Parisian cityscapes," Chapin said. "Interestingly, Pissarro ignores the chaotic daily life of the city and focuses instead on the play of light and water in this beautiful canvas."

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Auguste Daum (1853-1909) and Antonin Daum (1864-1930). Beetle Vase, ca. 1911. 12 5/8 x 4 7/8 in., Musee des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, Petit Palais. Irene Andreani / Petit Palais / Roger-Viollet

Auguste Daum and Antonin Daum's "Beetle Vase," circa 1911. "Art Nouveau was characterized by its whiplash line, extravagant arabesques, picturesque asymmetry, and devotion to ornament," Chapin said. "Nature was often the prime inspiration for Art Nouveau artists, as in this vase with a beetle motif."

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Anonymous, "Lilacs" folding fan, circa 1900. Gauze painted with gouache, mother-of-pearl, gold. Overall dimensions: 13.7 x 21.4 inches. Galliera, Musee de la Mode de la Ville de Paris. © Philippe Joffre / Galliera / Roger-Viollet

Anonymous, "Lilacs" folding fan, circa 1900. "The French were justly proud of their thriving fashion industry," Chapin said. "This hand-painted fan is an excellent example of the beauty and craftsmanship found in Parisian designs."

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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). Mademoiselle Eglantine's Troupe, 1896. Color lithograph, 24 1/4 x 31 1/4, Musee Carnavalet. © Musee Carnavalet / Roger-Viollet

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's color lithograph "Mademoiselle Eglantine's Troupe," 1896. Toulouse-Lautrec was a regular at Parisian dance halls, where he befriended performers including Jane Avril, depicted in this poster, Chapin said.

“Paris 1900: City of Entertainment”

When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Wednesday and Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, June 8-Sept. 8 (closed July 4).

Where: Portland Art Museum, 1219 S.W. Park Ave.

Tickets: $17-$20, free for ages 17 and younger, free for all from 5-8 p.m. the first Thursday of each month, portlandartmuseum.org or 503-226-2811.

An earlier version of this post included an incorrect reference to the Sacre-Coeur Basilica that has been removed.

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