1900: Art at the Crossroads

by Robert Rosenblum, Maryanne Stevens

Looks back on the Paris World's Fair of 1900, and surveys its artwork and the artists who produced it

Genres: Art, Reference

445 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2000

About the author

Robert Rosenblum (24 July 1927 - 6 December 2006) was a curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and a professor at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. He is the author of multiple volumes on modern and contemporary art, including The Paintings of August Strindberg and Paintings in the Musee d'Orsay. Rosenblum is the recipient of a Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism.

Reviews

[Frank McAdam · Rating 5 out of 5]

1900: Art at the Crossroads was published to accompany a 2000 exhibit that traveled from the Royal Academy of Arts in London to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Its purpose was to celebrate the centennial of the 1900 Exposition Universelle that had been held in Paris exactly 100 years before. This "World's Fair" marked the end of one century and the beginning of the next with a display of international art by seemingly every artist, known and unknown, then active. As such, it offered attendees an unparalleled opportunity to view side by side existing artistic styles, both those of the nineteenth century that were already falling out of fashion and those modern movements that would come to dominate the twentieth.

One striking omission at the Exposition was any display of graphic work, including photography. No etchings or lithographs were shown despite the importance these media held for the artists themselves. Instead, the Fair's organizers deliberately ignored these in favor of painting, sculpture and architectural design which they felt better represented "the higher forms of art."

The book contains only two essays but both are well written and informative. The first, "Art in 1900: Twilight or Dawn?" by Robert Rosenblum, is primarily a study in aesthetics and gives the reader a brief overview of the various artistic styles on display. The second essay, by Maryanne Stevens, deals with the politics surrounding the fair. Ever since the first exposition had been held in France in 1855, there had been an unmistakable political agenda attached to these events. The fairs were a means by which France sought to assert its primacy not only in the arts but in the political sphere as well. The nation wished to be seen at once as both a civilizing influence and a world power. This, of course, resulted in interminable arguments with the country's rivals when it came to the number of foreign works to be included and their placement within the exhibition halls.

As in any art book, emphasis is placed on the works themselves. The reproductions here, as in most Abrams publications, are excellent and are shown in large enough size that one is able to appreciate the detail. The catalogue is broken down by subject into several subdivisions. The designations given these sections at times appear extremely arbitrary. For example, a number of images of mothers breast-feeding their children have been placed under the heading "Religion." Again, one wonders why Luciano Freire's Country Perfume has been has been assigned a spot under "Social Scenes." Then there are the odd works, such as Jamin's Brennus and his Loot (a "historical" tableau that vividly anticipates the lurid excesses of pulp art), that are simply lumped together under the name of the Exposition itself.

[ANIOTUS Marcus Longmuir · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful art reference book. Tonnes of images to flip through. Insightful commentary to be found. It is amazing that this book can cover so much ground, but each time you visit, you must dig around, because there is no easy signage pointing your in a new way around the gallery.