Roaring: Art, Fashion, and the Automobile in France, 1918-1939

A richly illustrated catalog exploring the cultural significance and role of automobiles in interwar France.

Heavily illustrated, this catalog explores the role of the automobile as both object and subject in interwar France, a period of exceptional creativity, innovation, and turbulence. It untangles the impact of fashion, interiors, architecture, aviation, and the avant-garde on French automobile design and production. In turn, it highlights the bold, untethered visions of artists like Josephine Baker, Le Corbusier, Sonia and Robert Delaunay, and Jacques-Henri Lartigue who embraced the automobile as a provocative expression of the modern age.

Expansive and interdisciplinary, Roaring illuminates the richly creative ecosystems that nourished this golden age of French automotive design.

Genevieve Cortinovis is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Associate Curator of Decorative Arts and Design at the Saint Louis Art Museum.