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Paris
of the 1920s embodied the heady days between
the two world wars, and avant-garde music, dance,
and art were breaking free of academic molds.
This vibrant modern milieu is documented in
the vivacious sculpture by Demetre Chiparus
(1886-1947), whose small-scale works in bronze
and ivory - a technique known as chryselephantine
- rank among the best sculpture from the period.
Chiparus's work perfectly captures the spirit
of Art Deco at its most lively and decorative,
capturing the joie de vivre of the Jazz Age.
The author, Alberto Shayo, defines Art Deco,
establishing its antecedents in Art Nouveau,
cubism, and futurism. He elequently describes
the various contemporary inspirations for Chiparus
such as Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, the stage
designs of Leon Bakst, haute couture and the
New Woman, and particularly the Parisian music
hall whose erotic and daring dancers were the
single most important source for Chiparus's
delightful figures. Previously unpublished details
of the life of Chiparus are recorded in this
book (until now not even his birth and death
dates had been firmly established), making it
an invaluable source of information on this
master Art Deco artist.
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