Minneapolis Institute of Art

La lune à un mêtre: Souvenir de'Exposition 1900

France

Date

c. 1900

Medium

Lithograph printed in black and white inks on tinted yellow paper laid down on board

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This silly man-in-the-moon face is a souvenir for visitors to La Grande Lunnette, an immense telescope that was one of the primary attractions at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris. La Grande Lunnette was the centerpiece of the Palais de L'optique. 65 yards long and weighing 20 tons, the instrument projected enormous images that allowed large audiences to experience the moon as though it were within arm's reach. It is a remarkable survivor, since the thousands that must have been distributed were probably tacked up on walls and eventually discarded in favor of other ephemeral decorations. The marketers of the La Grande Lunnette appear to have capitalized on the success of a now classic silent comedy film, Georges Méliès's The Astronomer's Dream, which came out in 1898. The Man-in-the-Moon face of the present print resembles the moon that gave the astronomer an unexpectedly eventful encounter in the movie. If you would like to see the three and a half minute film, use this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8SMIiQZUcs France, Europe

The authoritative record is held by Minneapolis Institute of Art. LinkedCulture surfaces this object and its connections; it does not alter institutional metadata.