In February 1899, the British periodical The Poster ran an article titled “Loïe Fuller and her Artistic Advertisements.” The article praised the dancer-choreographer’s success in self-promotion. It also applauded Fuller’s decision to seek out Jules Chéret, inventor of the “artistic poster,” for her performances at the Folies Bergère. This talk recounts Fuller’s pursuit of an even bigger “get”: the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. Fuller hoped to commission a statue from him for her pavilion at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. Join us to hear about the methods that Rodin and Fuller developed for creating, advertising, and displaying their art. The talk will shed light on the complex relationships between art, gender, and commerce in Belle Époque Paris.

About the speaker

Juliet Bellow is associate professor of art history at American University, Washington DC. An expert in modern art and ballet history, she is the author of Rodin’s Dancers: Art and Performance in Belle Époque Paris (Yale University Press, 2025) and Modernism on Stage: The Ballets Russes and the Parisian Avant-Garde (Routledge, 2013). She was a consulting scholar for the 2013 exhibition Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929 at the National Gallery of Art, and has contributed essays to exhibition catalogues for the Tate Modern, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Musée d’Orsay, and others.

This event is sponsored by the European Decorative Arts Council.