Riviera Paradise: Art, Design and Pleasure in the 1920's

1 June 2023 - Lecture

Riviera Paradise: Art, Design & Pleasure in the 1920s

By Mary Alexander

Since the 19th century, English high society had 'wintered over' on the Côte d'Azur, but always left by April. In the early 1920s, however, an intoxicating mix of artists, writers, musicians and international visitors, inspired by a mythological seascape of luminous colours, created a new summer season. Sun tans and sportswear soon became 'de rigueur' in the chic new coastal resorts, villas and hotels. This liberating playground of ideas across the visual design arts, was stimulated by impresarios Serge Diaghilev and Paul Poiret. Traditional boundaries were torn down.

Matisse, Picasso, Dufy, Cocteau, and Chanel merged the worlds of fashion, theatre and interiors. Cole Porter, Scott Fitzgerald, and the intriguing Gerald and Sara Murphy, introduced an American perspective, and attracted an influential new set of discerning patrons and collectors.