The Silent Art and the French Impressionist School 1918-1929

Cultural Chronology and the Impact of the First World War

According to the art historian Hauser, the cultural boundaries of a century rarely align with the actual turn of the calendar. He posits that the $20\text{th}$ century did not truly begin until the conclusion of the First World War, just as the $19\text{th}$ century did not effectively commence until approximately the year $1830$. This concept highlights that the chronology of civilization and culture is almost never isochronous with historical time. In Paris, the end of the Great War was marked by a jubilant explosion of armistice celebrations, where the collective clamor of the people attempted to drown out the lingering echoes of the "Gran Berta" (Big Bertha) artillery fire. This period signaled a definitive turning point in cultural history, coinciding with the end of traditional movements and the birth of radical new forms of expression.

The Transition from Impressionism to the Cubist Revolution

The late $1910\text{s}$ saw the passing of the old guard of French painting. Edgar Degas had recently died, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir would pass away in the year $1919$. Their deaths represented the final moments of $19\text{th}$-century painting. Impressionism, which had once been a revolutionary force, had by this time become academic and stagnant. It was ultimately swept away by the "Cubist undertow," a movement characterized by a geometric revolution that signaled the arrival of stormy and turbulent times for the world of art. This shift moved the focus away from light and atmosphere toward structure and abstraction, paving the way for further radicalization.

Paris as the Center of Artistic Experimentation and the Avant-Garde

Following the war, an era of "artistic terrorism" began, characterized by the vivifying demolition of cultural traditions. This movement was spearheaded by Dadaism, which had been founded in neutral Switzerland in $1916$. Paris emerged as the "artistic navel of the world," becoming a dense jungle of various "isms" and a breeding ground for experimental culture. The middle-class public, or the "good bourgeois," found themselves continuously astonished by a rapid succession of innovations. These included the metaphysical paintings of Giorgio de Chirico, the aerographic works of Man Ray, the calligrams pioneered by Guillaume Apollinaire, and the innovative collages of Max Ernst. This period also saw the birth of modern literature, with Marcel Proust receiving the Goncourt Prize in $1919$ and James Joyce publishing his landmark work Ulysses in $1922$. During this time, psychoanalysis began to permeate the arts, and revolutionary manifestos were published with increasing frequency.

The Struggle and Revival of the French Cinematographic Industry

In this atmosphere of rapid cultural evolution, cinema became the "spoiled child" (ni\u00f1o mimado) of the new era. However, the French film industry was suffering from a severe case of "anemia." Four years of conflict ($1914$ to $1918$) had paralyzed its productive capacity, which allowed the American film industry to seize control of the French market. The recovery of the national cinema required a monumental effort, which was undertaken by the "titan" Louis Delluc. Delluc dedicated his health and his personal fortune to the revitalization of the art form. Interestingly, Delluc had initially begun his career as a high-minded writer who detested the cinema. His transformation occurred only after his actor friends and his wife, the actress Eve Francis, persuaded him to frequent the dark halls of the movie theaters. It was there that he experienced a profound revelation regarding the potential of cinema as a new and legitimate art form.