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Paris 1900 by Diane P. Fischer
The American School at the Universal Exposition
This illustrated work examines American art installation at the 1900 Paris International Exposition. This exhibition was the first unified public display for the rest of the world of an "American" school of art.By the turn of the century, Americans believed that they deserved their own "school" of art - not simply because they produced quality work, but because that assumed they were predestined to inherit the mantle of Western civilization. In the wake of the Spanish-American War, the US had emerged as a genuine political superpower. The Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Paris of 1900 - the largest international cultural event in terms of attendance until the New York World's Fair of 1964 - was the perfect vehicle for Americans to promote all the richness of a vibrant American culture. This work examines the campaign orchestrated by the federally-sponsored US Department of Fine Arts to prove the existence of a distinct "American school" of art, responding to earlier French criticism that American art was primarily a reflection of the French style. At the 1900 Parisian fair, the McKinley administration's crusade involved installing paintings which exuded "American character", such as images of virile men, wholesome women, pristine landscapes and technologically supreme cities. Paintings by still-powerful American expatriates were also included: exhibiting only native themes would have smacked of a provincialism inconsistent with the administration's imperialist agenda. This campaign was successful; American painters were lavished with medals, and critics enthusiastically sanctioned an "Ecole Americaine", as it was to be known in the next century. Yet the legacy of this exposition has remained largely unnoticed. This book examines how the 1900 exposition functioned as a bridge to the 20th century, creating the conditions for the emergence of American urban realism and modernism, as well as for New York to eventually displace Paris as the centre of the art world. |
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| Author(s) : Diane P. Fischer | Format : Hardback Book |
| ISBN-10 : 081352640X | ISBN-13 : 9780813526409 |
| RRP : £31.95 | Best available price : £ / $ |
| Prices as of : BST check live prices | |
Product Details:
Country Publication : United States
Publication Date : 31/08/1999
Publisher : Rutgers University Press
Page Length : 256mm
Page Size : 230mm