INSIDE VIEW A SLICE OF HISTORY From the Belle Époque era to the Roaring Twenties, Paris was the world capital of art and design – a wonderfully cosmopolitan city that attracted artists from all around the globe. It was in this era of cultural hegemony, that the Petit Palais came to be. Built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, to a design by architect Charles Girault, the Petit Palais’s trapezium shape, with four wings around the semi-circular garden area proved ideal for exhibiting some of the world’s finest art works. Since 1900 it has housed the Palais des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, showcasing the finest works the city’s denizens has to offer. In recent times this led to a series of exhibitions that started with Romantic Paris (1815-1858), which was followed by Paris 1900, City of Entertainment. Now the trilogy is completed with Modern Paris: 1905- 1925 (until April 14). Featuring works by by Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay, Marcel Duchamp, Marie Laurencin, Fernand Léger, Tamara de Lempicka, Amedeo Modigliani, Chana Orloff, Pablo Picasso, Marie Vassilieff, and many others, the exhibition also includes clothing and jewellery from the era as well as a car on loan from the Musée national de l’Automobile. petitpalais.paris.fr FACING PAGE The Petit Palais 86 NetJets
