The Roaring Twenties
05.07.2021 - 09.19.2021
The 1920s were a decade of both progression and backlash. A catastrophic World War followed by a pandemic with remarkable parallels to the current coronavirus crisis awakened people’s thirst for life. At no time in the 20th century was the desire for change more intense. Cities grew at breakneck speed and new visions were created. Conventional role models in society and the family were questioned and upended; disadvantaged social groups made their voices heard in culture and politics. Improved conditions for workers went hand in hand with a growing leisure industry. The spirit of innovation fed through directly into art, with experimentation in all disciplines. Remarkably, the products of this era have lost almost none of their relevance today.
The Exhibition
Moving on from Trauma
Gallery 204 and 205
Fernand Léger
Three Women with Still Life (Les trois femmes et la nature morte), 1921
Oil on canvas
Fondation Beyeler
© Fernand Léger, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021
New Roles, New Models
Gallery 206
Constantin Brancusi
Bird in Space (L’Oiseau dans l’espace), 1932–40
Polished brass
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 1976
© Succession Brancusi - All rights reserved. VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021
New Ways of Seeing
Gallery 207
Hans Richter
Rhythm 23 (Rhythmus 23), 1923
Oil on canvas
Museo d’arte della Svizzera italiana, Lugano
Canton of Ticino Collection
© Estate Hans Richter
Lust
Gallery 209
Ernest Neuschul
Takka-Takka Dancing (Takka-takka tanzt), 1926
Oil on canvas
Private collection
© Nachlass Ernest Neuschul
Work, Leisure, Design, and Architecture
Gallery 203
Warwara Fjodorowna Stepanowa
Untitled, 1926
Collage (newsprint) on paper
Private collection, Zurich
© VARST (Varvara Stepanova), VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021
Fashion Revolution
Gallery 202
Jean Patou
“Nuit de Chine” gown, early 1920s
Straight sleeveless dress with boat-neck and ruffles on the lower hem
Palais Galliera - musée de la Mode de la Ville de Paris
New Notions of the Body
Gallery 208
Palucca Dance (Palucca-Tanz), 1926–27
Brochure of Gret Palucca
Photographs by Charlotte Rudolph, among others
Inside illustrations by Vasily Kandinsky
Kunsthaus Zürich, Library
© Charlotte Rudolph, Vasily Kandinsky, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2021
Did you
know that...?
NEWS FLASH! THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PERFORMING ARTS
This online educational space designed for the exhibition The Roaring Twenties reflects the importance of the performing arts. It has been transformed into the Café Reinhardt
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES
Technological developments astonished the masses that applauded the US engineer, Charles Lindbergh, the first pilot to land on Europe after crossing the Atlantic Ocean from west to east on his own in an airplane in 1927.
SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES
n the early 20th century, research on the human brain was making great strides. In Germany, the practice led by neurologist Korbinian Brodmann (b. 1868; d. 1918) identified up to 52 functional areas in the cerebral cortex.
WOMENS'S SUFRAGE AND SOCIETY
Cities developed unevenly in the early 20th century, and the gap between the social classes became more pronounced. Many people lived in slums in minimal sanitary conditions,
POLITICS AND THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT
In 1912, an event brought the unbridled euphoria of the period to a standstill: the “unsinkable” transatlantic ocean liner RMS Titanic, a symbol of progress and technological development, sank during its inaugural journey from Southampton, England, to New York when it hit an iceberg.
NEW DANCES TO NEW BEATS
After years of war, death, and misery, people in both Europe and the United States wanted to enjoy life and make up for lost time. Their answer was the Roaring Twenties.
CAFES: MEETING POINTS
All the intellectuals mentioned in these sections frequented the gatherings at mythical cafes like the Universal, the Levante, the Pombo, and the Comercial in Madrid; the Espanol in Barcelona; the Boulevard, La Concordia, and the lruna in Bilbao;