France 1900. A Portrait in Color

Through some 800 vintage photographs, postcards, posters, and photochromes from the extensive archives of Marc Walter and Photovintagefrance, France 1900 follows up on TASCHEN’s best-selling vintage photographic collections Italy 1900, The Grand Tour, and America 1900 to provide a precious record of France in all its turn-of-the-century glory. With the photochrome technique used in many of the images restoring the past to vivid color, we enjoy a bristling close, bittersweet, encounter with this hopeful age: the brave, stony splendor of the Mont Saint-Michel; the icy peaks of Chamonix; and the honey light of the Cote d’Azur.

With an introduction, six essays, and detailed commentary by Sabine Arque exploring the stories behind the pictures, this is an unrivalled portrait of a nation on the cusp of the century and of its poignant exuberance before the paroxysm of the First World War. While paying tribute to the precious Belle Epoque, crushed by the traumas of history, it also celebrates the unwavering allure of La Belle France, its beauty, culture, traditions, and legendary romance.