Promoting the Value(s) of Modernism: The Interviews of Teriade and Zervos with Art Dealers in Cahiers d'Art, 1927

By the 1920s, it was apparent that the reputation, reception, and success of modern artists largely depended on networks of art critics, dealers, collectors, publishers, and intellectuals, whose aesthetic ideas and financial interests often played a crucial part in the making of the art scene. This phenomenon, which was often discussed in the international art press of the interwar period, was quite pronounced in Paris. The purpose of this essay is to discuss a column that appeared in a short-lived supplement to the journal Cahiers d'Art, Feuilles volantes, in 1927. Its title was "Interview with.," and it included interviews of Christian Zervos (1889-1970) and Teriade (Efstratios Eleftheriadis, 1897-1983) with art dealers, such as Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler (1884-1979), Leonce Rosenberg (1879-1947), and Alfred Flechtheim (1878-1937). Through a critical analysis of the aesthetic and commercial issues that were raised during the interviews, I explore how art critics and art dealers worked together toward the construction, legitimization, and promotion of the values of modernism. I also argue that both sides profited from this joint effort, since the interviews served as a vehicle for the promotion not only of ideas, but also of commercial interests in the art market.