Art et Race. Les gravures des peuples primitifs à l’Exposition universelle de Paris de 1878

Based on a case study, this paper aims toexamine the scientific, industrial and political intereststhat intertwine at the 1878 Paris World’s Fair. We willfocus on a graphic composition that was elaboratedfrom various copies of rock art presented in severalpavilions of the Exhibition and published by a sciencemagazine. This figure was composed to compare theartistic capacities of European prehistoric and Africancontemporary primitives, all belonging, in the dis-course of the French anthropologists, to the same race.The article considers the construction of anthropologyin public space as a science claiming to be capable ofanalysing racial relationships in their environment andtherefore capable of scientifically directing the Frenchcolonial project