Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century (Yale Center for British Art)

Like the Victorian era, the Edwardian era was highly distinctive - but quite unlike its Victorian counerpart - was remarkably brief. This fascinating period has been depicted as an indolent summer afternoon of imperial and elite complacency, but also as a period of rapid political, economic, and artistic change, that culminated in the First World War. This book explores themes of power, nostalgia, and the contrasting lightness of touch that characterised the period. Issues of creation, consumption, and display are examined through a range of objects, including portraits by Sargent and Boldini, diamond tiaras and ostrich-feather fans, jewel-like Autochrome color photography, and a spectacular embroidered gown that belonged to the American-born Vicereine of India. This book identifies opulence and leisure as driving forces for the domestic and imperial British economic engine in the early years of the 20th century.