Paris 1919-1939: Art, Life & Culture - Hardcover

Durozoi, Gérard; Bouvet, Vincent

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 086565252X ISBN 13: 9780865652521

Publisher: Vendome Press, 2010

Synopsis

During the années folles following World War I, Paris underwent a creative fever that brought artists and intellectuals from around the world to the City of Light. The bohemian charms of Montparnasse attracted artists such as Picasso, Chagall, and Giacometti, while a vibrant café culture provided a forum for disputes between Dadaists and Surrealists and gave rise to a group of expa­triate writers. The creative energy was all-encompassing, establishing Paris as the epicenter of new trends in the arts, a position it would occupy until World War II. This newest title in a celebrated series addresses such diverse topics as aesthetics, literature, the changing role of women, and the transformation of avant-garde culture.

About this title

About the Author

Vincent Bouvet is an art historian specializing in 19th- and 20th-century decorative arts.

 

Gérard Durozoi, a French philosopher and art historian, is editor of a dictionary of modern and contemporary art and author of the acclaimed History of the Surrealist Movement.

From Publishers Weekly

Teeming with nearly three million people from all walks of life, Paris between the two great wars experienced an artistic and intellectual golden age, detailed and illustrated here. During these years, writers explored unconventional subjects and styles, from Colette's exploration of the struggle between the sexes to Céline's unconventional language and a darkly absurd vision of humanity. In music and dance, Stravinsky composed two emblematic works of modern neoclassicism, Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms; American jazz flowed in Montmartre clubs; Josephine Baker's topless dancing caused a sensation; and the Ballets Russes recruited the greatest practitioners of the dance, musical, and visual arts for revolutionary new ballets. Radical modernist architects grouped around Le Corbusier. Matisse's sensual odalisques, Duchamp's Mona Lisa with Mustache, Picasso's war-inspired Guernica, Chagall's dreamy flying lovers, and Dalí's and Magritte's disturbing images all defined the era. The essays by the art historian authors are competent although dry and lacking a unifying introduction. The real treats are abundant illustrations that evoke a singular era that is indelibly impressed upon our collective cultural consciousness. (Dec.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Vendome Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 086565252X
• ISBN 13: 9780865652521
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416