Byzantine Exhibition of 1931

The Exposition internationale d’art byzantin was held at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Palais du Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan) and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris from May 28 to July 9, 1931. It was the first major Byzantine exhibition to be held in Paris, and more than seven hundred objects were exhibited. Charles Diehl was president of the organizing committee and wrote the preface to the exhibition catalogue. Georges Duthuit served as the committee’s general secretary. The other organizers of the exhibition were Royall Tyler (who wrote two essays in the catalogue: "L’art byzantin" and "Résumé de l’histoire de Byzance et de son art, avec renvois aux numéros du catalogue"), Georges Salles, Eustache de Lorey, and Hayford Peirce. Jean Ebersolt wrote an essay, "Byzance et l’art decorative," for the catalogue. Louis Metman, curator at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, secured the use of that facility for the exhibition. Honorary committee members included Josef Strzygowski and Robert Woods Bliss. Mildred Barnes Bliss and Robert Woods Bliss were important lenders to this exhibition, although circumstances prevented them from attending.

Robert Byron, "The Byzantine Exhibition in Paris," The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs 59, no. 340 (July 1931): 27–29, 33.

Charles Diehl, Jean Ebersolt, and Royall Tyler, Exposition international d’art byzantin (Paris: Imprimerie Frazier-Soye, 1931).

René Dussaud, "Les monuments syriens à l’Exposition d’art byzantin," Syria 12, no. 4 (1931): 305–15.

Royall Tyler, "Exposition internationale d'art byzantin," Cahiers d'art 6, no. 4 (1931): 173–92.