Art Et Décoration : Une Revue Entre Deux Siècles, 1897-1914 De L'art Nouveau À Un Art Décoratif Moderne

In 1897, the Librairie centrale des beaux-arts published Art et Décoration, the first Parisian magazine dedicated to the critic of contemporary decorative arts. Until its temporary interruption in 1914, it remained faithful to the commitments set out in its programme: to accompany the development of a modern French decorative art. This is why it took an active part in the critical, aesthetic, theoretical and ideological debates that underpinned the current artistic scene, from the ephemeral apogee of Art Nouveau to the beginnings of Art Deco.

Through a diachronic journey, determined by the evolution of artistic life at the turn of the 20th century, this book, the result of a doctoral thesis in art history, analyses the complexity of a singularly rich period, but rarely approached for itself from the point of view of the history of the decorative arts. By deciphering the critical and theoretical action of Art et Décoration, it places the magazine within the editorial field of art magazines, explores the involvement of its main actors, questions the militant vocation of its critical discourse and defines the contours of the decorative aesthetics elaborated throughout its pages.