Paris is becoming the capital of “Modernities.” The current exhibition at the Grand Palais, Modernism or Modernity: Photographers From the Circle of Gustave Le Gray, suggests that the seeds of modernity were sown in this period. Similarly, the exhibition on display through February 14, 2013, at the Centre George Pompidou is Voici Paris: Photographic Modernities, 1920 - 1950.

This exhibition aims to show all the reasons why Paris was a center of modernity. These reasons are detailed in Françoise Denoyelle’s essay in the catalogue, which shows why the opening of studios, the creation of magazines like Vu, and the appearance of influential circles like Le Rectangle and the AEAR (Association of Revolutionary Artists and Writers) attracted artists and photographers from all over Europe.

This development is explained in an essay by Clément Chéroux, “Of Cosmopolitanism in Photography: Portrait of Paris as a Cultural Exchanger,” where we find this quote from Blaise Cendrars: ‘Oh Paris / Central station landing-stage of wills, crossroads of unease.’ But is that sufficient evidence for us to speak of a ‘Paris School of Photography’ the way some historians do? For Chéroux, strictly speaking, there was no school, as there was with Surrealism, but rather a leaderless group of individuals who “came together and influenced each other without the slightest organization.” As Louis Aragon said of this period: “Art under the Treaty of Versailles only has the wild appearances of madness, it is not the result of a group’s wishes, it is the frantic product of a society where irreconcilable enemy forces oppose one another.”

Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr

Read the full text of this article in the French version of Le Journal.

Exhibition
"Voici Paris"
Modernités photographiques 1920-1950
Until January 24th, 2013
Centre Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou
75004 Paris - France
+33 (0) 144 78 12 33
Wendesday - Monday : 11am - 9pm

Book
"VoicI Paris, ModernItés PhotographIques 1920-1950"
Texts by Quentin Bajac, Clément Chéroux and Françoise Denoyelle.
Éditions du Centre Pompidou
321 p., 320 illustrations