Paradigma estético y artes decorativas en el Chile republicano. Una aproximación a través de las exposiciones de 1873 y 1875

This article reflects on the change in the aesthetic paradigm which affected the material environment of the Chilean elite in the 1870s. In this respect, it suggests that the shift from a colonial culture towards a new culture of “good taste”, based on Neoclassical and French style, was in line with the national project planned and implemented by the elites after the Independence, a project based on the concepts of modernity and progress. As for material culture, this phenomenon was evident in two spaces in particular: exhibitions as an instance for intervention and palaces as a place for reception and appropriation.