LE ARTI DECORATIVE ALLE GRANDI ESPOSIZIONI MILANESI, 1881, 1894, 1906: UNO SGUARDO CRITICO

Purpose of the essay is to highlight the role of the decorative arts in nineteenth-century design culture using the “looking glass†of the great Milan exhibitions held in the decades between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the National and Artistic Exhibition of 1881, through the United Expositions of 1894, to the Sempione International Exhibition of 1906, decorative and/or applied arts, in their variety of products, materials and techniques, have represented substantial parts of the events, often contributing to their cultural and economic success. The above three major exhibitions are therefore significant fields of study as regards the products characteristics and their critical appraisals, enabling to consider some significant aspects of their history: such as the relationship between tradition and innovation, theory and practice, stylistic changes and the evolution of taste, during a time span that can be considered seminal for the renewal of the decorative arts and the foreshadowing of modern design.