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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Directing the Eye: Stories of Modernity and Tradition at the 1878 Paris Universal Exhibition Guillaume Evrard Volume I – Text PhD The University of Edinburgh 2014 DECLARATION This is to certify that the work contained within has been composed by me and is entirely my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Signature: ____________________ Date: __________________ Table of contents Abstract ............................................................................................................ 7 List of illustrations ........................................................................................... 9 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................ 15 Introduction .................................................................................................... 17 I. Looking Sideways.................................................................................... 43 A. Space: from the clear to the obscure................................................. 48 B. Performance ...................................................................................... 59 C. Authenticity ...................................................................................... 71 D. Conclusion ........................................................................................ 78 II. The British Façades in the Rue des Nations ......................................... 83 A. An encyclopaedic vision and its negotiation .................................... 87 B. Taste and technology ........................................................................ 97 C. Architecture as a national representation? ...................................... 118 D. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 124 III. The Royal Academy of Arts and British Visual Culture ................... 127 A. For ‘a proper representation of British Fine Art’ ........................... 129 B. An ‘exceptional aid’ ....................................................................... 133 C. Famous on the Continent? .............................................................. 142 D. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 146 IV. ‘In a Railway Station How Much of Our Lives Is Centred!’: The Modernity of William Powell Frith .............................................................. 149 A. Images of railways stations ............................................................ 155 B. British perception of railways, 1830s-1870s .................................. 166 C. Significance of The Railway Station .............................................. 175 D. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 186 V. French Criticism of the British Fine Arts Display ............................. 189 A. General attitudes to Britain in France in the 1870s ........................ 196 B. Context and methods of French art critics ...................................... 208 C. French critics in front of British paintings in 1878 ........................ 221 D. Relations between art and architectural criticism ........................... 234 E. Conclusion ...................................................................................... 241 Conclusion .................................................................................................... 243 Bibliography & Sources ............................................................................... 249 Abstract On the basis of the art and architectural displays at the 1878 Exposition Universelle Internationale à Paris , this thesis investigates the conflicting claims of nationalism; the late nineteenth-century tensions between tradition and modernity; and the disparities between the intentions of the organizers and the perceptions of the visitors. Creating connections between methodological and theoretical issues of interest to art history and museum studies, the argument explores further and refines our understanding of what has been constitutive of Exhibitions. This thesis takes the 1878 Exposition Universelle Internationale à Paris as its focus, in order to further appreciate the extent to which Exhibitions were able to influence their visitors’ minds and bodies. It scrutinizes a wide range of material generated as part of the national participation of the United Kingdom to this event in specific case studies for both breadth and depth of understanding. The examination of material published in 1878 newspapers provides evidence of a critical gaze within the Exhibition boundaries. International and universal Exhibitions have been significant events in producing and conveying various messages about diverse topics to unprecedentedly large audiences. Their rich content entailed the production and consumption of diverse experiences and meanings beyond attempt of controlling bodies and behaviours. The study of the British participation in the 1878 International Street or Rue des nations uncovers the tensions between symbols, taste and technology in architecture. Original research in the archives of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, gives a particular insight in the role of a key institution in the preparation of a national visual arts exhibition in the 1878 Paris Exposition . The examination of the reception of a particular artwork provides a useful counterpoint to these first institutionally-oriented analyses. Focusing on W. P. Frith’s The Railway Station (1862) offers a different perspective to understand the way a vast array of contemporary meanings could impact the reception of a particular work. The investigation of the critical reception of British paintings in 1878 France emphasizes the strength of cultural narratives beyond the specific vision for the Exhibition. List of illustrations Figure 1: ‘The Forthcoming International Exhibition at Paris - Bird’s-eye View of the City, Showing the Exhibition Buildings’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 431, Saturday 2 March 1878, p. 213 Figure 2: ‘Under the Central Dome’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 447, Saturday 22 June 1878, p. 616 Figure 3: ‘A Peep at the World of Wonders Through the Railings’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 446, Saturday 15 June 1878, p. 600 Figure 4: ‘A Sketch in the Park’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 443, Saturday 25 May 1878, p. 512 Figure 5: ‘Ascent to the 7th Floor of the Hotel. View of Paris Won Nereby’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 453, Saturday 3 August 1878, [p. 105] Figure 6: ‘The Trocadéro Building’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 440, Saturday 4 May 1878, pp. 436-7 Figure 7: ‘Opening of The Paris Exhibition – The Presidential Declaration From The Balcony’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 441, Saturday 11 May 1878, pp. 460-1 Figure 8: ‘Under the Cascade of the Trocadéro (Imitation is the Sincerest Flattery)’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 455, Saturday 17 August 1878, p. 156 Figure 9: ‘On the Way to the Champ de Mars’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 443, Saturday 25 May, p. 516 Figure 10: ‘On the Road to the Exposition. View From the Interior of No. 3838 Voiture de remise à deux places’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 455, Saturday 17 August 1878, p. 156 Figure 11: ‘Outside the Exhibition - Where to Buy Tickets’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 444, Saturday 1 June 1878, p. 549 Figure 12: ‘Doubtful Identity of The Suspicious Card’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 454, Saturday 10 August 1878, [p. 129] Figure 13: ‘In the Aquarium on the Trocadéro’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 444, Saturday 1 June 1878, p. 549 Figure 14: ‘All Amongst the Fishes’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 455, Saturday 17 August 1878, p. 156 Figure 15: ‘One of the Paradises of the Champs Elysées’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 453, Saturday 3 August 1878, [p. 105] Figure 16: ‘The Pursuit of Knowledge’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVIII, No. 454, Saturday 10 August 1878, [p. 129] Figure 17: ‘The Tramways at the Trocadéro’, The Graphic. An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper , Vol. XVII, No. 440, Saturday 4 May 1878, p. 436 Figure 18: ‘How