'Paris 1900, The City of Entertainment' exhibition

PARIS - This exhibition is made for the audience to relive the splendour of the French capital, during its version at that time.

During 1900, Paris was seen throughout the world as a sparkling city of luxury with a sophisticated way of life.

There are over 600 works which might allure the visitors to the Petit Palais into the atmosphere of Belle Époque Paris.

There are paintings, objets d’art, costumes, posters, photographs, films, furniture, jewellery and sculptures. The technical inventions, the cultural effervescence, and the sheer elegance of Parisian women have been staged and displayed as representative legends of that Paris whose image has been promoted in literature and the cinema throughout the world.

There were 51 million tourists who flocked to Paris, in 1900.

The trail is organised around six ‘pavilions’ and begins with a section called ‘Paris, window on the world’.

This extraordinary event is being commemorated in the exhibition with architectural projects, paintings, films and also picturesque souvenirs and pieces of scenery and decoration that have been kept since the time.

But it is far more than a tribute to the Exposition Universelle. In 1900, the luxury shops and the art galleries provided to art-lovers the creations of the pioneers of Art Nouveau. They are presented here in a second pavillion devoted to masterpieces by artists such as Gallé, Guimard, Majorelle, Mucha, and Lalique.

The third section is reserved for the fine arts and reveals the spot that Paris occupied on the art scene.

The visitor is next confronted by the creations of Paris fashion, then at its zenith.

The remaining two pavillions offer a taste of the world of entertainment in Paris: from the triumphs of Sarah Bernhardt to the successes of Yvette Guilbert, from Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande to l’Aiglon by Edmond Rostand, from opera to café-concert, and from the circus to the brothels.

The illustrations of the bright as well as the dark side of this city abandoning itself to pleasure give substance to the idea that it remained the capital of the world and the source of all gratifications. Legendary venues like the Moulin Rouge and Le Chat Noir became favourite subjects for artists like Toulouse-Lautrec.

The legend of the Belle Époque has endured to this day, because there was a genuine cultural blossoming. Its unprecedented force is demonstrated in this exhibition.

The Petit Palais is the most beautiful architectural gem remaining from the year 1900 in Paris. Now, at last - this wonderful building is devoting an important exhibition to that seminal period.