Paris Exposition Universelle (1900)

For THE BLOOMSBURY ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DESIGN PARIS EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE (1900) The Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900 was several times larger than any previous world’s fair, sprawling over large swaths of the city. As a summation of the nineteenth century and a look forward into the twentieth, spectacles of technology were much in evidence, including a three-kilometer long eclectic moving sidewalk system wending its way around the exhibition grounds and through the city. The first line of the Paris Métro system was also inaugurated during the exposition. One of the most popular buildings was the Palace of Electricity with its electric lighted cascade in front of a façade spangled with incandescent bulbs. All the electric power for the exhibition was generated inside. The American historian Henry Adams (1838-1918) was memorably moved by the power of the electric dynamos. The most significant remnants of the exhibition are the Grand Palais, its Beaux-Arts masonry surrounding a colossal glass and steel vault, and the Petit Palais, both originally housing the fine arts displays, and the Alexander III bridge leading to them. For Further Reading: Julian, Philippe. The Triumph of Art Nouveau: Paris Exhibition, 1900. London: Phaidon Press, 1974. Silverman, Debora L. “The 1900 Paris Exhibition.” Chap. 15 in Art Nouveau in FinDe-Siècle France: Politics, Psychology, and Style. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1989. Ethan Robey The exhibition is associated with the Art Nouveau style and can be seen can be seen as both its high point and swan song. The style was much in evidence on the fairgrounds in exhibits and buildings, such as the extravagant Pavilion Bleu restaurant, by René Dulong (1860-?) and Gustave SerrurierBovy (1858-1910). Its use at the governmentsponsored exhibition indicated an acceptance of the once radical style into mainstream practice. The monumental entrance to the fairgrounds off the Place de la Concorde was designed by René Binet (1866-1911) as a series of interlocking horseshoe arches, inspired by the delicate mineral skeletons of microscopic protozoa. Its main arch was crowned by Moreau-Vauthier’s (1871-1936) statue La Parisienne, a modern-day allegory of the city, dressed, somewhat controversially, not in classical robes, but in a haut couture gown by Jeanne Paquin (1869-1936). Art dealer Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), a key promoter of the new style, erected a pavilion at the exhibition for his shop, “L’Art Nouveau” featuring interior ensembles by designers in his circle, including Eugène Gaillard (1862-1933), Edward Colonna (1862-1948) and Georges de Feure (18681943). See Also: ART NOUVEAU; PARIS EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE (1889); SIEGFRIED BING René Dulong and Gustave Serrurier-Bovy, Pavilion Bleu, Paris, 1900. PARIS EXPOSITION UNIVERSELLE (1900)