Best regards, Andrew Stewart
Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: November 27, 2020 at 2:22:59 PM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-SHERA]: Milbach on Makaryk, 'April in Paris: > Theatricality, Modernism, and Politics at the 1925 Art Deco Expo' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Irena R. Makaryk. April in Paris: Theatricality, Modernism, and > Politics at the 1925 Art Deco Expo. Toronto University of Toronto > Press, 2018. Illustrations. 328 pp. $70.00 (cloth), ISBN > 978-1-4875-0372-7. > > Reviewed by Juliette Milbach (École des hautes études en sciences > sociales) > Published on H-SHERA (November, 2020) > Commissioned by Hanna Chuchvaha > > Conceived and partly received as an apotheosis of modernism, the > Paris Exposition internationale des arts décoratifs et industriels > modernes undoubtedly deserves the analysis devoted to it by Irena R. > Makaryk. For about six months in 1925, the exhibition attracted > millions of visitors with its ambitious goal of creating a new style > that reflected scientific, industrial, and technological advances, as > Makaryk states in her introduction. The first section of the book is > attractively titled "April in Paris 1925: 'As Important as the > Renaissance'" from a quotation of Yvanhoë Rambosson, a member of the > organizing committee. The wording invites the reader to feel the > enormous impact of the subject of this study. Richly illustrated, > _April in Paris: Theatricality, Modernism, and Politics at the 1925 > Art Deco Expo_ investigates the process and the legacy of the > exposition as a combination of fair (amusement, commerce), exhibition > (display), and show ("theater"). The visual material, which is > presented in abundant black-and-white reproductions within the > chapters and in eight additional color plates--giving a real sense of > the incredible works by Alexandra Exter--offers a unique opportunity > to visualize the show. The book includes maps of the exhibition, > views of the expo from contemporary postcards (both as a whole and > particular aspects), reproductions of stenographic studies, costume > sketches, etc. > > The exhibition is well known through numerous analyses that focus on > the art deco style (such as Emmanuel Bréon and Philippe Rivoirard's > edited collection _1925, quand l'Art déco séduit le monde_ [2013]) > or the national particularity, highlighting Soviet participation (see > S. Frederick Starr's _Le pavillon de Mel'nikov_, _Paris, 1925_, with > an introduction by Jean-Louis Cohen [1981]), but the theatrical > aspect of the exhibition's program has not received similar > attention. Makaryk's goal is to go beyond an exclusively national (by > pavilion) and/or stylistic (focusing on art deco style) approach by > inspecting instead the theatricality in a broad sense, taking the > reader far outside the walls of the exhibition itself. By > theatricalization, Makaryk understands the reconfiguration of the > lived space in a modern festival city. To explain this, the author > divides her book into seven chapters, all of which work from and with > the concept of space, reminding the reader that theatricality is the > key concern of the study. The analysis thus falls within the renewal > of theater studies, with close attention being paid to theaters as > architectural, physical, and social spaces and not only in their > relation to the texts. It also claims to borrow from fashion theory > the ambivalence of the material/non-material and the definition of > the fashion process as a complex, dynamic mechanism, in order to > incorporate these theories into cultural studies. > > _April in Paris_ offers the reader an idea of the spatial and visual > organization of the show, and it highlights the fundamental > contribution of the Soviets. This importance is underlined by how the > sources, such as articles by the Soviet art critic Boris Ternovets > (1881-1941), give a unique view of the exhibition and the Soviet > project itself.[1] One of the original aspects of Makaryk's book is > the dialogue between the USSR and France, without ever minimizing the > other conversations at stake, such as the British experiments. This > dialogue is visible from the first chapter. "Theatricalizing the > City" examines the role that electricity played in the exhibition and > puts into perspective its interplay with modernization in the Soviet > Union, that is, the ideology behind electrification. The relevance of > the connection highlighted in this chapter between the Parisian > experience and the Soviet narrative is principally theoretical > (through the reminder that the USSR was one of the important > participants in the exhibition). But the stories behind the > scenography of exterior space in the young Soviet state and the > electrification of the country offer interesting examples for > understanding how international exhibitions, such as that in Paris in > 1925, played a role in the urbanization of the city in terms of both > ephemeral (as most of the constructions were supposed to be destroyed > after the show) and permanent scenery. The USSR experienced a similar > situation in terms of articulation between the temporary and the > permanent installations. > > The modernity brought by the Soviets is discussed under all points, > in particular in a critical parallel drawn between the creations of > Konstantin Melnikov and Aleksandr Rodchenko and works by Le > Corbusier. However, Makaryk's main arguments reside in the theater. > One of her key points is that, unlike the British and French--two > great theater nations--who purposely ignored modernity in their stage > design, the Soviets used it to great effect. Makaryk insists that the > Soviet display focused on the idea of the relationship between space > and time, which made a preeminent contribution to the idea of > modernity that lay at the heart of the 1925 exhibition in general and > is notably contextualized in the book by the discussion on > electricity in the first chapter. Makaryk insists that the Soviet > display was important because all the innovations in the Russian > performing arts (that is, not only the stage design and costumes but > also the professions of actor and dancer), including those that > appeared before 1917, were being presented on this international > scale for the first time. The second chapter highlights the > correlation between aesthetic and technological progress and the > embodiment of this idea of progress in the theater. Chapters 3 to 5 > focus on the concept of space, highlighting the Soviet proposition > for show followed by the theater art experiments in this area and > concluding with Soviet theater art in its particular relation to > space. > > The sixth and penultimate chapter is dedicated to a new vector from > Paris to New York and gives a sense of how modernity that appeared in > Paris as a result of the exhibition spread afterward to the rest of > the world via New York. Makaryk sees in this a sort of apotheosis of > modernity representing the 1925 exhibition and its repercussions, > especially in the United States. In attempting to summarize the > legacy of the expo, Makaryk identifies a one-way system of influence > and, in my understanding, simplifies a little bit the Soviet > situation after 1934, when, according to Makaryk, all experimentation > was prohibited. This gives a somewhat black-and-white impression of a > history of theater, which would henceforth be played out exclusively > outside Soviet borders. To counterbalance this impression, the > concluding pages highlight the works of Soviet emigrants in the > United States, in particular Boris Aronson. All these detailed > analyses and these few shortcuts allow Makaryk to demonstrate her > central point: how a theatrical style appeared in Paris and became > dominant in the United States until the 1960s. The combination of > analysis of theatrical art and a chronological and geographical > expansion of the history of the 1925 expo makes this book an > important study for understanding the pivotal moment that this > international show represents in Western cultural history. > > Note > > [1]. B. N. Ternovets, _Pis'ma, dnevniki, stat'i_, comp. and ed. L. S. > Aleshina and N. V. Iavorskaia (Moscow: Sovetskii khudozhnik, 1977). > > Citation: Juliette Milbach. Review of Makaryk, Irena R., _April in > Paris: Theatricality, Modernism, and Politics at the 1925 Art Deco > Expo_. H-SHERA, H-Net Reviews. November, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=55574 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. 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