"Paris of the 1920s: in the heady days between the two world wars, avant-garde music, dance, and art were breaking free of academic molds. This vibrant modern milieu is documented in the vivacious sculpture by Demetre Chiparus (1886-1947), whose small-scale works in bronze and ivory - a technique known as chryselephantine - rank among the best sculpture from the period. Chiparus's work embodies the spirit of art deco at its most lively and decorative, capturing the joie de vivre of the Jazz Age.

The author, Alberto Shayo, defines art deco, establishing its antecedents in art nouveau, cubism, and futurism, and describing the various contemporary inspirations for Chiparus, such as Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, the stage designs of Leon Bakst, haute couture and the New Woman, and particularly the Parisian music hall, whose erotic and daring dancers were the single most important source for Chiparus's delightful figures.

Previously unpublished details of the life of Chiparus are recorded in this book (until now not even his birth and death dates had been firmly established), making it an invaluable source of information."--BOOK JACKET.