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Ted Joans

Ted Joans

“JAZZ IS MY RELIGION AND SURREALISM IS MY POINT OF...

Experimental Lines: Impressionist and Postimpressionist Drawings

Experimental Lines: Impressionist and Postimpressionist Drawings

The Impressionists, and later the Postimpressionists, were both lauded and...

Staging Art Nouveau: Women Performing at the Turn of the 19th Century

Current Story

Staging Art Nouveau: Women Performing at the Turn of the 19th Century

Discover the incredible careers of female performers who became the...
Current Story

Willie Anne Wright

Willie Anne Wright

Explore the life of Virginia artist Willie Anne Wright and...

Benjamin Wigfall

Benjamin Wigfall

Explore the life and work of Virginia artist and educator...

Elegance and Wonder

Elegance and Wonder

Elegance and Wonder: Masterpieces of European Art from the Jordan...

Conversations in Art

Conversations in Art

Explore connections between works of art from across time and...

Gee’s Bend Quilters

Gee’s Bend Quilters

Explore the quilts of Gee’s Bend and discover how they...

The Pattern and Decoration Movement

The Pattern and Decoration Movement

Explore the Pattern and Decoration Movement of the mid-1970s -...

Eight Views of Omi: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Ito Shinsui
近江八景の内 伊東深水 木版画

Eight Views of Omi: Japanese Woodblock Prints by Ito Shinsui
近江八景の内 伊東深水 木版画

Explore the ancient Japanese province of Omi through the woodblock...

Words Matter & Untold History

Words Matter & Untold History

Words Matter underscores the diversity of contemporary Native experience, highlighting...

The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse

The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse

“The South got something to say.” André 3000 Explore the...

The Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection

The Ludwig and Rosy Fischer Collection

Expressionism is our understanding; it’s central concept is not a...

Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop

Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop

"Thus it is valid to state that the Kamoinge Workshop,...

American Land, American People

American Land, American People

Native peoples’ philosophies on land insist that land and people...

Traverses: Art from the Islamic World across Time and Place

Traverses: Art from the Islamic World across Time and Place

Cutting across continents, cultures, and a millennium, this Installation Story...

The Black Photographers Annual

The Black Photographers Annual

From 1973 to 1980, a group of African American artists...

Lillian Thomas Pratt

Lillian Thomas Pratt

Virginia Museum of Fine Art’s extensive Russian decorative arts collection...

Alphonse Mucha: Paris 1900

Alphonse Mucha: Paris 1900

Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was a featured artist at...

Staging Art Nouveau: Women Performing at the Turn of the 19th Century

Discover the incredible careers of female performers who became the first modern celebrities and learn how they broke beyond the social constraints placed on Victorian women, inspiring visual artists in the process.

Related Stories & Collections

At the turn of the 19th century, Paris was home to over thirty-six cabaret and dance halls including the Divan Japonais, Folies-Bergère, Moulin Rouge, and many others. Performing at these establishments were bold women who dazzled their audiences with their charm and wit on stage. This story highlights works in VMFA’s collection of Decorative Arts after 1890 that depict leading female performers of the Belle Époque period and explores their lasting impact on the world of show business. Numerous actresses broke gender norms by dressing as men on stage, and off stage by courting other women, two things which were taboo at the time. Many of these performers designed their own costumes, choreographed their own dances, and created their own stage personas and identities that would go on to become household names.

These women who made names for themselves were not simply muses for male artists during the Art Nouveau movement; they were novelists, designers, directors, business women, and innovators as well. During a time period where society mandated that women should be demure and unemotional, the stage offered a platform for female performers to openly follow their ambitions and be their authentic selves. This collection story will offer two of these women’s stories, Loïe Fuller and Sarah Bernhardt, as they are featured in the collection of Decorative Arts After 1890 at VMFA. 

 

The Victorian Woman 

During the Victorian era (1837-1901), women were limited in their social and political spheres. From girlhood, young ladies were raised with the ultimate purpose of being wives and mothers. For working-class women, as seen in the image on the left, labor conditions were poor and job opportunities were relegated to factory work, laundresses, and roles as domestic servants or governesses.  

(Left) In the Laundry, 1884, Robert Frederick Blum (American, 1857-1903), pastel on paper. James W. and Frances Gibson McGlothlin Collection, L2015.13.8. (Right) Toilette de Courses, ca. 1885, Gustave janet (French), hand colored lithograph on wove paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Margaret Dashiell, L2015.13.8 

 

While beautiful, women’s fashion became increasingly more restrictive and complex, as seen in the image on the right, with late nineteenth century fashion posing a risk for women’s health due to extreme corsetry. By the mid-nineteenth century, education for girls became somewhat more accessible, however women were rarely allowed to attend college and most universities only allowed male attendants.  

 In 1897, the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies was formed, seeking to increase women’s rights, including the right to vote. These incredibly strong Suffragettes laid the foundation for future generations of women to be able to access equal opportunities for education, to vote and become politicians, as well as to enter professional fields in scholarship, medicine, and more. 


A Belle Époque

The Belle Époque (1871-1914), French for “Beautiful age,” was a period of advancement in Europe for the arts, science, and society, taking place right after Paris’s large-scale renovations that ended in 1870. During this era, the upper and middle classes experienced economic growth that allowed for the visual and performing arts to flourish.

In France, the neighborhood of Montmartre attracted artists, performers, and intellectuals who convened in cabarets to share their ideas and promote new styles such as Post-impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau.

Technological innovations resulted in the first airplane, the invention of cinematography, as well as the construction of Paris’s now iconic landmark, the Eiffel Tower. This was also a period of vast cultural exchange between foreign countries, though this was often at the expense of Europe’s rapidly expanding colonial conquests. 

The Art Nouveau Movement

The Art Nouveau Movement emerged around 1880 as a style that placed emphasis on luxury and maximalist design. The movement was named after the modern design salon opened by Sigfried Bing (1838-1909) in 1895, Maison de l’Art Nouveau meaning “the new art.” In reaction to the Industrial Revolution’s mass production of commercial goods, artists and designers desired to create unique, hand-made decorative arts, aiming to raise the status of design and craftsmanship to the same level as fine visual arts. With the opening of Japan’s borders in 1853, Japanese artworks and Ukiyo-e woodblock prints were disseminated to Europe and America, where artists incorporated the East Asian influences into their own works, including the love for motifs from the natural world. This resulted in flowing, curvilinear lines and flourishing patterns that embellished furniture, jewelry, home decor, painting, fashion, and graphic design. The popularity of this style became an international sensation and regional styles developed as off-shoots of the movement, manifesting as Jugendstil in Germany, Sezessionstil in Austria, Stile Liberty in Italy, and Style 1900 in America. 

 

Sabbeth Princess Collar, ca. 1899, René Lalique (French, 1860-1945), gold, enamel, glass, pearls. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis, 85.243

 

René Lalique was one of the foremost jewelry designers of the Art Nouveau movement, creating fantastical works that depict both real and supernatural creatures. Exhibited at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, this necklace was inspired by Jean Lorrain’s ballet La Princesse au sabbat, performed at the Folies Bergère in 1899 starring Jane Margyl as the main character, Princess Illys. This necklace depicts the story’s antagonist, Plango, a sorceress who torments the princess with a swarm of tree frogs, surrounded by the amphibians while wearing a golden frog crown.  

Loïe Fuller

Born Mary Louise Fuller in Hinsdale, Illinois, Loïe Fuller (1862-1928) transformed the world of dance at the turn of the 19th century. Though she began her career performing to American audiences on Vaudeville stages, Fuller moved to Paris in 1892 where she astonished the French public with her mesmerizing “Fire Dance,” twirling on stage with swathes of fabric, illuminated by multicolored stage lights of her own creation.   

(Left) Metropolitan Museum of Art, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. (Right) Loie Fuller Lamp, ca. 1900, Siot-Decauville, (French, 1881-1926) foundry, François-Raoul Larche, (French, 1860-1912) sculptor, bronze, gilding. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Sydney and Frances Lewis Art Nouveau Fund, 72.5.1

 

Compare the period photograph with the Loie Fuller Lamp, by Françoise-Raoul Larche, a highlight of VMFA’s collection. Larche designed a series of sculptures, depicting Loïe Fuller in four distinct poses with her costume swirling in undulating swathes around her. Inspired by Fuller’s manipulation of light on stage, Larch designed the folds of Fuller’s dress to ensconce lightbulbs, allowing the refraction of light against the bronze to illuminate Fuller, emulating her real-life performances.  

Fuller not only designed her own costumes and choreography for her performances, but she also invented and patented theatrical mechanisms that created the illusion of brilliant flames swirling on stage. While Fuller’s performances embodied the Art Nouveau aesthetic and inspired the works of artists Françoise-Raoul Larche, Pierre Roche, Jules Chéret and more, she was also an artist and innovator in her own right who revolutionized the fields of theatrical set and lighting design as well. 

 

La Loïe Fuller, by Roger Marx

Number 7 of only 130 copies, this incredibly rare book illustrates the art critic Roger Marx’s essay on Loïe Fuller and her mesmerizing performances. This book is the first use of Georges Auriol’s Auriol Italic typeface and serves as an exceptional example of sculptor and printmaker Pierre Roche’s invention of gypsography, a technique that involves embossing damp paper with plaster molds, which were hand colored. 

La Loïe Fuller

La Loïe Fuller, 1904, Roger Marx (1859-1913). Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Margaret R. & Robert M. Freeman Library and Special Collections, Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis, GV1785.F82 M37 1904.

Sarah Bernhardt 

Born Henriette-Rosine Bernard (1844-1923) in Paris, France, Sarah Bernhardt’s sixty-year career would mark her as one of the most famous actresses of all time. She broke gender barriers on stage, performing as both men and women, as well as off stage where she dressed in men’s trousers and pursued romantic relationships with both men and women.

A genius at promoting herself, Bernhardt cultivated her legendary persona through sensationalized stories she told the press, as well as by commissioning the leading designers of the Art Nouveau period to disseminate her image through lithographic advertisements. Along with her theater career, Bernhardt was a prolific sculptor and painter, exhibiting her artworks at the Paris Salon as well as the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle 

Nadar, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Self-Portrait as a Sphinx

Though she is most well known as an actress, Sarah Bernhardt was an equally talented painter and sculptor. In this self-portrait, a supernatural Bernhardt appears wearing masks of Tragedy and Comedy on each shoulder, alluding to the actress’s ability to transform into different characters. This sculptural inkwell also relates to her role as the female lead, Blanche de Chelles, in the 1880 play Le Sphinx. During the tour of this play a cast of this work was on display in a gallery in the city where she performed.


Advertisements

During the Belle Époque period, the streets of Paris were covered in brightly colored lithographic advertisements, many of which served as promotional material for cabarets and dance halls.

Posters gave artists the opportunity to disseminate their work to far-reaching audiences and build large followings that included art collectors. With the advent of new industrial printing technology, these commercial artworks were rapidly mass-produced and disseminated throughout cities, turning average urban streets into colorful landscapes, and the style associated with Art Nouveau posters laid the foundation for modern and contemporary graphics.

Disseminating their Image

Performers like Jane Avril, who were close friends with artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, commissioned posters from the artists to advertise for their own shows instead of solely the venue. Many entertainers designed their own costumes, making themselves instantly recognizable to the public eye with their signature looks, such as Yvette Guilbert with her long, black gloves seen in the image at left, as well as distinguishable in the background behind Avril in the Divan Japonais advertisement at right. These savvy businesswomen were keenly aware of how to capitalize on their stage personas by disseminating their image, and in doing so they were able to launch themselves into popular mainstream media, gaining fame and recognition. 

(Left) Yvette Guilbert, December 1895-November 1900, Ferdinand Bac (French, 1859-1952), color lithograph on wove paper. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Council Graphic Arts Fund, 71.12.21. (Right) Poster (Divan Japonais), 1892-93, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (French, 1864-1901) artist, Edward Ancourt et Cie (French, active 1872-1895) printer, lithograph. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, John and Maria Shugars Fund, 2016.219 

Bal au Moulin Rouge, Plate 53, Jules Chéret (1836-1932), illustrator, Les Maitres De L'Affiche. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Library and Special Collections, NC1800.M3 V.2.
Les Maitres De L'Affiche

Les Maîtres de l’Affiche (The Masters of the Poster) is a 5-volume set of books including 256 color plates that represent a diverse selection of outstanding original small format posters from the turn of the twentieth century. Ninety-seven popular artists from around the world who were active during the Art Nouveau period are represented including Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Théophile Alexandre Steinlen and Alphonse Mucha.   

The series was conceived by artist and poster designer Jules Chéret (1836-1932) to capitalize on the public’s enthusiasm for the colorful and aesthetically pleasing advertising posters that had taken over the streets of Paris during the mid-19th century. A large portion of the posters included in these volumes are advertisements that promote female performer’s shows at cabarets and dance halls. 

Chéret’s distinctive graphic style and innovation was instrumental in establishing the poster industry as a viable art form. At this time, he conceived of the idea of creating a subscription service to offer prints in a more manageable format, as large posters were difficult to view, transport and store. 

Explore digitized versions of the five volumes: Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3, Vol. 4, Vol. 5

Les Maîtres de l’affiche, December 1895-November 1900, Imprimerie Chaix (1845-1965) publisher. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Margaret R. & Robert M. Freeman Library and Special Collections, NC1800.M3 V.1-V.5.

1900 Paris World’s Fair

The 1900 Exposition Universelle was held in Paris, France, and included 40 countries and over 30 colonies and protectorates. This panoptic World’s fair marked the turn of the century and the dawn of the modern age, exhibiting pavilions displaying new technology, art galleries filled with masterpieces by Art Nouveau artists, as well as a number of theaters.

Among the multiple performance halls was the Palais de la Danse, where a ballet starring the lead character, the Greek muse Terpsichore, invited all nations to present on stage and celebrate with their traditional dances. A few famous female performers were even honored with their own dedicated pavilions, including the Théâtre de la Loïe Fuller, as well as the Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt (now the Théâtre de la Ville), which Bernhardt continued to direct until her death in 1923.

(detail) Palais de la Danse, 1900, Manuel Orazi (Italian, active in Paris, 1860-1934) artist, printed by Bourgerie & Cie (Paris, French) printer, lithograph. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, John and Maria Shugars Fund, 2022.139

Performance as a Subject

Just like with visual arts, dance and performance serve as means of expressing oneself, and they have been the source of inspiration for artists dating as far back as 8,000 BCE in Indian cave paintings. At the turn of the 19th century, the performing arts became another platform for artists to experiment and push the boundaries of traditional art. Dance lent itself to the Art Nouveau style through its organic movement, which was reflected in the sinuous, curvilinear lines that appear in painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. The motif of female figures in the midst of performing has inspired artists throughout art history, and we can see this imagery throughout all of VMFA’s collection areas. 

Le Round Danse, ca. 1898, Georges de Feure (French, 1868-1943), lithograph. VIrginia Museum of Fine Arts, gift of Victor and Gretha Arwas, 2022.151

Continue exploring the theme of dance throughout VMFA’s Collection: