There are art nouveau architectural drawings by Hector Guimard, from private villas and the Paris metro. A boomerang art nouveau writing desk with mushroom lamps by Henry van de Velde. Inlaid Art Nouveau wooden stands by Louis Majorelle, et al. And encrusted art nouveau glass by Emile Gall . It's apparent that Gall and his followers sometimes stepped through the looking glass into Wonderland while trying to infuse the decorative arts with new vigor.
Twisted tables sprout from the floor.
Wings envelop seductive women. Tendrils and algae ensnare limbs. Among the weirdest pieces displayed are a series of 1899-1905 photographs by German artist Karl Blossfeldt. Nowhere are there evocations of Paris, however, of daily life in 1900, of the intellectual ferment in salons and cafes, of the world's fair, of the Palais de l'Electricit or the artists' colonies of Montmartre and Montparnasse. Such trifles would perhaps have been too obvious for the show's curators.