What words would you use to describe the 1920s? Vibrant, fun, exciting, fast paced, innovative, changing…. All of these and more describe both the decade and the latest exhibition at the Kunsthaus Zurich, which opened at the beginning of July 2020.
The exhibition contains many of my favourite artists and art movements. I love social history, especially when it is brought to life through art, design, photography and film. The exhibition didn’t disappoint and tells the story of this decade in 6 themed sections. With a focus on Berlin, Paris, Vienna and Zurich it features over 300 works by 80 artists. It also includes works by contemporary artists who have revisited the 1920s spirit and created new art.
This was a decade of change where the spirit of innovation was well and truly alive. Styles emerged that look like they could have been invented today. A century on and they still look modern. This was the decade that gave us Coco Chanel’s ‘little black dress’.
In the aftermath of the First World War and a Spanish flu epidemic there was a yearning for the new. People’s thirst for life had been awakened, at no time in the 20th century was the desire for change more intense.
Cities grew and developed at a fast pace and there was dramatic social and political change. These included the questioning of traditional roles in society and the rapid growth of consumer culture.
The First World War had a devastating impact on Europe. A generation of young men were lost either in battle or through the trauma that they had experienced. Adapting to ‘normality’ was difficult.
Private Collection © Christian Shad Stiftung Aschaffenburg/2020 ProLitteris Zurich
During the war, women had to take on many of the roles traditionally done by men. This meant that women gained new social freedoms both at work and in their personal lives. Women went to work in factories and on the land.
In many countries, this also led to women gaining the right to vote. I was surprised when I moved to Switzerland to discover, that women didn’t get the right to vote until 1971! If you are interested to find out more about this click here.
Right: Fèlix Vallotton, Woman with Powder, 1921, Private Collection
Fashion was the most obvious way in which these developments were clearly visible. Women wore their hair short (the ‘bob’ was born) and dressed in knee-length, unwaisted dresses.
There was a growing group of female journalists who were writing mainly for the newly established women’s magazines such as ‘Die Dame’.
Furniture from the Bauhaus school
Furniture was created that bcame design icons, in fact many are still in production today. Chairs (pictured above) by Gerrit T. Rietveld and Marcel Brauer of the Bauhaus are seen as ‘key objects’ of modern furniture design.
In the 1920s, film and photography gained further recognition and became more experimental. Some of the most daring experiments came from Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy. One of the best examples of this was an exhibition called ‘Film und Photo (‘FiFo’) which Moholy-Nagy co-curated. This was the first time that film and photography were presented side by side.
I enjoyed seeing Alexandra Navatril’s innovative photography installation. She photographed 324 stills from Kodak’s ‘color guidebooks’. These guidebooks were an attempt to show the correct way of tinting and toning black and white slides. Until 1935 film was black and white and colour was added afterwards.
I loved visiting this exhibition, for me it sums up the spirit of the 1920s with its innovation and desire for change. 100 years on, it is still as relevant as ever.
The exhibition runs until 11 October 2020. Visit the Kunsthaus Zurich website for more information.
