Page 42 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

40  INTRODUCING P ARIS

Avant-Garde Paris

From the 1920s to the 1940s, Paris became a mecca for artists,
musicians, writers and film-makers. The city was alive with new
movements such as Cubism and Surrealism, represented by
Cézanne, Picasso, Braque, Man Ray and Duchamp. Many new
trends came from the USA, as writers and musicians, including
Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Sidney Bechet, took up
residence in Paris. In architecture, the geometric shapes created Extent of the City
by Le Corbusier changed the face of the modern building. 1940 Today

Napoleon by Abel Gance
Paris has always been a
city for film-makers. In
1927, Abel Gance made an
innovative movie about
Napoleon, using triple
screens and wide-
angle lenses.

The old Trocadéro was changed
to the Palais de Chaillot (see p202)
for the World Exhibition of 1937.
Josephine Baker
Arriving in Paris in 1925, the
outlandish dancer catapulted
to fame in “La Revue Nègre”
wearing nothing but feathers.
Living space was made
into a picture gallery.

Stilts
supported the
concrete shell.
Sidney Bechet
In the 1930s and 1940s, the La Roche Villa by Le Corbusier
jazz clubs of Paris resounded Made from concrete and steel, with
to the swing music of black straight lines, horizontal windows and a
musicians such as the
saxophonist Sidney Bechet. flat roof, this house (1923–5) epitomized
the new style (see pp246–7).
1924 Olympic 1925 Art Deco 1931
1919 Treaty of Games held in Paris Colonial
Versailles signed in style first seen at Exhibition
the Hall of Mirrors 1924 André Breton the Exposition des
Arts Décoratifs
publishes Surrealist
Manifesto
1914 1916 1918 1920 1922 1924 1926 1928
1914–18 World War I. Paris An eternal flame for
is under threat of German 1920 Interment of the Unknown Soldier
attack, saved by the Battle the Unknown Soldier burns under the Arc
of the Marne. A shell hits World War I de Triomphe
St-Gervais-St-Protais. soldier in uniform

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