1890s: A Decade of Dissent
Saturday, July 18, 2009 - Sunday, November 15, 2009
In the first of this two‐part series of exhibitions examining the 1890s, the focus was on the burgeoning consumerist culture signaled by the brilliant posters of Henri de Toulouse‐Lautrec, Jules Chéret, and Alphonse Mucha, among others, advertising everything from hair dye and chocolate to the cabarets and theaters. World Fairs celebrated industry and commerce. At the same time, this was an era of radicalism and anarchy, scandals, rampant anti‐semitism, assassinations and assassination attempts, strikes and violent sabotage of capitalist ventures. Workers and peasants thought of themselves as victims of capitalism, not its beneficiaries.
Artists protested in myriad ways, but Symbolism emerged as the dominant and most cohesive trend in both the visual arts and literature. They sought in primitive cultures and religions (including medieval Christianity), dreams and fantasies an antidote to the corruption perceived to derive from urban industrialization. Artists experimented with and exploited printmaking techniques in order to produce vaporous, otherworldly effects or shine a harsh light on reality. As Marx noted, these extremes of political and social turmoil were an especially productive period for printmakers.
Artists protested in myriad ways, but Symbolism emerged as the dominant and most cohesive trend in both the visual arts and literature. They sought in primitive cultures and religions (including medieval Christianity), dreams and fantasies an antidote to the corruption perceived to derive from urban industrialization. Artists experimented with and exploited printmaking techniques in order to produce vaporous, otherworldly effects or shine a harsh light on reality. As Marx noted, these extremes of political and social turmoil were an especially productive period for printmakers.