A century removed, the latest exhibit at Paris‘ Petit Palais museum sets out to reflect on “Modern Paris, 1905–1925” through the city’s growth as a cultural hub during those years.
Opened Tuesday and set to run through April 14, the expansive exhibit explores the two decades from the Belle Èpoque to the Roaring ’20s, bifurcated by World War I. It touches on all mediums of art from fashion to photography, painting to first forays into filmmaking, architecture and furniture design interspersed with a sobering dose of realism placing the works in the context of conflict.
From the early days of Pablo Picasso in his Montmartre digs, before he relocated to Montparnasse as the artistic heart of the city moved south, the exhibit explores the painterly “gangs” of Paris who influenced the city’s culture early in the century.
The salons they hosted pushed the boundaries of modernity, showing independent artists — as opposed to the government sanctioned ones — and accepted women. Controversial Cubists found a home here, laying the foundation for the modern art movements.
While the exhibit is designed as an overview of all arts in Paris, fashion in many ways sits at the center as it was both a symbol and catalyst for change.
“It was important to include fashion because sometimes we don’t think of it, but it shows the moving of society,” chief heritage curator and head curator Juliette Singer told WWD.
Paul Poiret came into play with his corset-less shapes and dresses which gave women a newfound freedom of movement. The designer opened his own fashion house in 1903, alongside his own Maison Martine, which focused on decorative objects from young apprentices.
Dress shapes and lengths inspired major political and cultural shifts. “The new shapes allowed women to adapt — it was a new way for women to move, to be able to bicycle, dance, go to cocktail parties. It was very important to show how the…
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