Fernand Léger et le groupe Espace à Biot. Un terrain d’expérimentation pour une modernité critique

• Main Author: Diana Gay
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication 2017-07-01
• Series: In Situ : Revue de Patrimoines
• Subjects: Jean Arp; André Bloc; Denis Brihat; André Bruyère; Eugène Claudius-Petit; Georges Dedoyard
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/insitu/14660

During the summer 1954 at Biot (Alpes-Maritimes)), an original exhibition was organised by the Espace group, entitled ‘Architecture, Forms, Colour’. The aim of this association founded in 1951 by André Bloc and Félix Del Marle was to achieve the synthesis of the arts in everyday life by the joint initiatives of architects and artists. During the years of post-war reconstruction in France, the group tried to set up projects but failed most of the time due to the lack of solidarity between the members and the disinterest manifested by the commissioning authorities and contractors. After the second outdoor exhibition in 1955 which took place at Saint-Cloud near Paris, the group slowly disintegrated. The evaluation of the Biot event is interesting for understanding the reasons for the failure of this collective utopia of the mid-1950s. Is it the continuation of the modernist period after the Second World War or is it the beginning of a critical modernity which opens the way to postmodernism?