Picture Moulin Rouge cabaret, can-can dancers, and Art Nouveau posters.
The exhibition features 130 works from the Belle Époque – an era of bohemian culture and artistic innovation.
“This was an incredibly fertile moment for art making.”
GRAM Associate Curator Terra Warren says 1880-1910 was a time of immense optimism, just before World War I.
“This exhibition really tries to show the vibrant, diverse reality of Paris at this time, which was really a city where so many kinds of voices were heard. We are trying to showcase the ways in which the women who were depicted were not just a muse, they were not just the subject of the image, but they were all artists in their own right.”
The exhibition features paintings, sculpture, metalwork, paper art, furniture and film from icons like Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Alice Guy-Blaché.
“This was also a time of society figuring out what it wanted to be. There were a lot of national conversations between the people on the right and the people on the left. There were a lot of social movements that were happening.”
Warren imagines the era’s creative energy may influence modern visitors.
“There are so many avenues for creativity available to us. And I hope that people leave inspired to make our own time as vibrant.”
“Decadent Spirit” opens May 29 through September 6 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.
For a weekly dose of news right to your inbox, sign up for the WGVU newsletter.
