People have been fascinated by luxury since the age of antiquity – with opinions varying from moral reprobation to declarations of economic progress. But what is luxury exactly? Is it opulence? Or is it something less tangible, such as time or health?
This exhibition explores the transformation of luxury from the time of the early Industrial Revolution to the Weimar Republic – a moment when luxury evolved from aristocratic privilege to bourgeois status symbol.
This transformation is illustrated through a number of key themes. Once rare goods became imported everyday luxuries through colonial exploitation, while haute cuisine worked with the finest ingredients for an elite. Travelling on the Orient Express or ocean liners became a status symbol, and grand hotels served as glittering stages for high society. In the world of fashion, Charles Frederick Worth created haute couture and established the fashion brand. While department stores and factory production made clothing and jewellery accessible to broader sections of society, artists such as René Lalique continued to create exclusive one-off pieces.
Time also proved a luxury commodity: while “time-off” represented a hard-won “little luxury” for the working class, unrestricted idleness remained the exclusive territory of the old elites.
Within the context of topical debate, the exhibition also offers a critical perspective on today’s luxury and wealth.
