Gallery view, Gebrüder Thonet, Vienna Chair (No.209), 1970 [1870], Musashino Art University Museum & Library / Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Chaise lounge (No.LC4), Cassina [Thonet Frères], 1975 [1928], Musashino Art University Museum & Library / Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret, Charlotte Perriand, Basculant Chair (No.LC1), Cassina (Thonet Frères], 1988 [1928], Musashino Art University Museum & Library, Modern Times in Paris 1925: Art and Design in the Machine-age, Pola Museum of Art, Photo: Alma Reyes

Some leading figures, however, opposed Art Deco ornamentation. Architect Le Corbusier purposely presented a pavilion at the Paris Fair void of decoration. At the Pola Museum of Art exhibition, his sling chairs and steel and leather lounges emanate function, comfort, and mass utilization.

Giorgio de Chirico, Hector and Andromache, ca. 1930, Pola Museum of Art © SIAE,Roma & JASPAR, Tokyo, 2023 B0685

Surrealism emerged around 1924 predominantly in Paris. Popularized by poet and critic André Breton, the movement shaped intellectual and political thoughts fundamentally based on the unstained imagination of the subconscious. Dadaism, on the other hand, made waves quite earlier around 1916, arising from Zurich and Berlin, and after 1920 in Paris. Its ideology was not remote from Surrealism, both ejecting conventional artistry and logic. They embraced instead, irrationality and abstract imagery. “Hector and Andromache” (ca. 1930) by Giorgio de Chirico evokes the classical theme of the Trojan War by Homer. The painting uses a peculiar perspective surrounding two lovers transformed into surrealistic mannequins. They bid farewell to each other against contrasting bright and dark structures in the background.

Hisui Sugiura, Asia’s First Subway Begins Operation Between Ueno and Asakusa, 1927, The Museum of Art, Ehime

The section on Modern Japan showcases the rapid changes in Japan’s urbanization after the harrowing Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Many artists traveled to France and Germany and brought back ideas of the avant-garde. One of them was famous graphic designer Hisui Sugiura who studied in Europe in 1923, and became a pioneer in the introduction of Art Deco in Japan for modern commercial design. The delightful poster “Asia’s First Subway Begins Operation Between Ueno and Asakusa” (1927) announced the opening of Tokyo’s subway system. The picture typifies the rush hour, using a diagonal perspective to segregate the traditional-clothed Japanese at the rear from the Western-dressed passengers at the front line.