Page 53 - EXPOTIME!Sept2017

New exhibitions New exhibitions

Raoul Dufy: shawl ‘Les Althéas, printend silk, circa 1914-1920. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag

occasion, in which he created three different ‘worlds’. The "Art Deco – Paris" will be an interdisciplinary presentation,
project ran vastly over budget, and he teetered on the combining fine art, fashion, decorative art, photography,
edge of bankruptcy. He was forced to auction off his art music and film, and bringing to life the decadence and
collection, but it was ultimately to no avail. By the end of opulence of the Art Deco period, which still holds great
the 1920s Poiret had had his day, and his fashion was no appeal today. Visitors will enter the world of the roaring
longer innovative. twenties, les années folles, personified by Paul Poiret, Le
Magnifique.
The merging of several disciplines, which Poiret had adopt-
ed as his strategy, is highly typical of Art Deco. There is a A lavishly illustrated catalogue (in Dutch and English) with
clear preference for geometric lines, daring colour com- essays by curators from Gemeentemuseum Den Haag will
binations, simplification and abstracted flora and fauna be published by Waanders & De Kunst to coincide with the
motifs, as well as for luxurious and expensive materials. exhibition.
Unlike Art Nouveau, the forms are more likely to be sym-
metrical and angular. Art Deco is, as it were, a cocktail of Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
styles such as Cubism, Futurism and Constructivism, com- Stadhouderslaan 41,
bined with elements from non-western cultures such as 2517 HV Den Haag
the culture of Ancient Egypt. Above all, however, Art Deco The Netherlands
070 338 1111
was a decorative movement who aim was to beautify and
bring pleasure.
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EXPOTIME!, issue August/September 2017