Paris Exposition and Gender

A Look at the Palais de la Femme at the 1900 Exposition Universelle

Exterior of the Palais de la Femme, (collection of Deborah L. Silvermann)

Poster by the Belgian artist Henri Privat Livemont.

An original of this poster with text included can be valued for as much as $8K.

Concurrently with the 1889 Paris Exposition, there was also the staging of a women's congress to articulate the priorities of this burgeoning movement. As a result of these galvanizing feminist activities that were developing in France and indeed around the world in the late 1890's, international organizers of the world's fairs felt it necessary to combat this "femme nouvelle " as they believed that this particular type of woman was a threat to the economic stability of global expansion. (Debora L. Silvermann, Art Nouveau in Fin-de-Siecle France, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1989)

To that end, the Palais de la Femme, situated at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, was created to enforce the view that a woman's role as consumer and decorator of the home must be asserted and presented as a feminine virture. As such the Palais de la Femme displayed hygiene and toiletry objects, as well as day care services for children, as well as commissioned female artists.

The design of the Palais de la Femme is complicated by the fact that it was spearheaded by a female member of Paris's bourgeoise elite, Madame Pegard, whom Silvermann refers to as a "familial feminist". According to Pegard, women in her camp would "will work together for a common goal, the primacy of our arts, and ...the grandeur and wealth of our patrie."

Ground Plan Analysis for the Exposition Universelle, Paris 1900.

Structures Built for the Exposition

The 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle forever changed the layout of the city in that there were several structures that were built and remained long after the fair end. Those structures include the Pont Alexandre, the bridge the connected the Esplanade des Invalides to the Beaux-Arts pavilions.

In addition the Petit Palais, where Paris’s Museum of Fine Arts is currently housed and the Grand Palais, a building that is most noted for its art shows but has also been used by couture designers like Chanel as a fashion venue.

It is also during the Expo that the Paris Metro’s first subway line was inaugurated. Under the leadership of an engineer named Fulgence Bienvenüe, the Paris Route 1 connected the outer neighborhood of Vincennes to the interior of Paris proper. This was a significant shift after the radical social upheavals that occurred as a result of Baron Haussmann’s refiguring of Paris. Stops on Route 1 included stops along Champs Elysee and the Bastille prison.

The Exposition's expanse and attractions

The fair ground was located in the 7th arrondissement, a traditionally aristocratic neighborhood and home to the city's most social privileged residents. The 7th arrondissement had also been home to previous Paris fairs but this time it covered between 543-570 acres. It's expanse being comparable to the size of the 1893 Chicago Columbian Fair.

Modes of transportation to move the 50 million attendees from one section of the fair to another, included the three-tiered moving walkway captured by Thomas Edison on film. The walkway covered the area from Champs de Mars where the Eiffel Tower is located to the Esplanade de Invalides, which houses France's military history.

In 1889, the U.S. pavilion was positioned near the Eiffel Tower on Avenue de Suffren. However In 1900, the U.S. caused an international uproar by insisting on being situated more prominently. As a result, they were afforded a more visible location along the Seine River on the Quai des Nations causing Turkey and Austria to relinquish some of their designated space. There was also a Coloniale Exposition area that included Congo, Senegal, China, Japan, Portugal, Algeria, Russian, and Siberia among others.

Screenshots of the above map overlaid in the Harvard World Map application along with an alternate map of the ground plan can be viewed in an earlier post from 10/24.

Photos of the Champs de Mars, Esplanade des Invalides, the Pont du Alexandre III, and the Grand Palais

Updated: Architectural similarities between the Esplanade des Invalides and the U.S. pavilion

This building is known as Les Invalides, a complex of buildings in Paris, that relate to the military history of France. Note the domed similarities between this building and the U.S. pavilion as referenced in earlier blog entries. Both buildings also depict a triumphal figurehead atop the dome as well, the US pavilion includes an eagle and Invalides includes a war hero, respectively.

Souvenirs from the 1900 Paris Exposition

Below is a hand-mirror souvenir from the Paris Universelle Expo. It is valued at $425. Lot details can be found here: http://www.parishotelboutique.com/store/product2865.html

Also included here is a souvenir of the popular moving sidewalk at the Paris 1900 Exposition. The sidewalk was a three-tiered transit system that covered the area from the Champs de Mars to Invalides. The souvenir is on LiveAuctioneers.com and estimated at $3K-$5K. Check out the lot details here:

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/10120313