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The triumph of art nouveau: Paris exhibition, 1900
The Paris world exhibition of 1900 was the apotheosis of nineteenth-century industrial aspirations and achievements, placed in a fairyland setting constructed in ironwork and lit by electricity. It was the triumph of Art Nouveau as an official style and of the electric lightbulb as a decorative emblem.
Philippe Julian takes the reader on a tour of its many sections in a handsomely illustrated book which combines a serious appraisal of the works of art included in the exhibition with an ironic survey of the weirder contributions.
Nearly every nation had its pavillion - mock Elizabethan for the English, the Russian Kremlinesque, a village complete with mountains for the swiss. There were entertainments and cafés of every sort for the crowds that poured in from the new Métro. Oscar Wilde favoured the Egyptian one.
The Manufactures and works of art produced in Europe in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century took pride of place; the dominating emblem over the entrance was a figure modelled on Sarah Bernhardt, while an American dancer Loie Fuller whose butterfly dance found an echo in crazy electric lamps and the vases of Galle and the jewellery of Lalique, seemed the embodiment of the Exhibition style. Although much of the art and most of the buildings which were commissioned for the exhibition have gone, the illustrations in this book, drawn from many contemporary sources, show how the whole extravaganza appeared. The Alexander III bridge, the Grand and the Petit Palais, which still stand, and the furniture, jewellery, and interior decorations preserved in museums and private collections, have been specially photographed.
Philippe Jullian shows how this last fling of nineteenth century optimism prefigures many of the tastes and habits of the twentieth. This is the official, the kitsch side of the 'mauve nineties' and the author describes it in the elegant vein which characterizes his highly successful accounts of the Symbolist Movement in 'Dreamers of Decadence' and 'The Symbolists'.
With 143 illustrations, 16 in colour.
Philippe Julian takes the reader on a tour of its many sections in a handsomely illustrated book which combines a serious appraisal of the works of art included in the exhibition with an ironic survey of the weirder contributions.
Nearly every nation had its pavillion - mock Elizabethan for the English, the Russian Kremlinesque, a village complete with mountains for the swiss. There were entertainments and cafés of every sort for the crowds that poured in from the new Métro. Oscar Wilde favoured the Egyptian one.
The Manufactures and works of art produced in Europe in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century took pride of place; the dominating emblem over the entrance was a figure modelled on Sarah Bernhardt, while an American dancer Loie Fuller whose butterfly dance found an echo in crazy electric lamps and the vases of Galle and the jewellery of Lalique, seemed the embodiment of the Exhibition style. Although much of the art and most of the buildings which were commissioned for the exhibition have gone, the illustrations in this book, drawn from many contemporary sources, show how the whole extravaganza appeared. The Alexander III bridge, the Grand and the Petit Palais, which still stand, and the furniture, jewellery, and interior decorations preserved in museums and private collections, have been specially photographed.
Philippe Jullian shows how this last fling of nineteenth century optimism prefigures many of the tastes and habits of the twentieth. This is the official, the kitsch side of the 'mauve nineties' and the author describes it in the elegant vein which characterizes his highly successful accounts of the Symbolist Movement in 'Dreamers of Decadence' and 'The Symbolists'.
With 143 illustrations, 16 in colour.
216 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1974
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About the author
Philippe Jullian
69 books13 followersPhilippe Jullian né Philippe Simounet, est un écrivain, dessinateur et graveur, chroniqueur mondain et artistique de son époque.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 14, 2018
A thorough and fascinating walk-through of the 1900 Paris Exhibition, but not enough emphasis on Art Nouveau, in my opinion.
Displaying 1 of 1 review