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The two exhibitions simultaneously presented at the two sites belonging to the Pinacothèque in Paris, invite visitors to discover the development of the French Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements through one of its icons, Tamara de Lempicka.
In response to Classicism, Art Nouveau imposes no obligation on the artist. Conceived as an art of freedom, Art Nouveau broke free from the constraints that had previously hindered creation. Codified forms which are characteristic of the academic approach are shattered, and Art Nouveau emerged as a transgressive art form, with eroticism as a key element.
Art Nouveau was at its peak from 1890 to 1905. It quickly became the language of expression for the explosion of creativity, especially at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, and soon began to be denounced by the "inventors" of the movement.
The exhibition at the Pinacothèque in Paris brings together over two hundred objects in all areas of life and the arts, which in their own way revolutionized aesthetic and cultural thought.
While the Art Nouveau movement was taking shape, forms evolving towards an abandonment of the arabesque, and a return to geometric shapes, it transformed gradually into what became known as Art Deco. In parallel, the representation of the female figure was to experience a major transformation. The Pinacothèque in Paris chooses today to show the work of Tamara de Lempicka and illustrate how this unclassifiable and ambiguous artist and character is the perfect embodiment of this period. Her very international and progressive lifestyle appears like a succession of theatrical stagings in which modernity and luxury take the lead role. This relationship with progressive ideas made her one of the most noteworthy characters of the early twentieth century. Referring unabashedly to the erotic attitudes of women, and to their sensuality in a way that had not been seen before, Tamara de Lempicka brings a modern wave of female empowerment and eroticism into a world which was nevertheless neo-Cubist and deeply Art Deco.