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A collection of essays that discuss abstract expressionist art.
A leading figure of the postwar avant-garde, Danish artist Asger Jorn has long been recognized for his founding contributions to the Cobra and Situationist International movements - yet art historical scholarship on Jorn has been sparse, particularly in English. This study corrects that imbalance, offering a synthetic account of the essential phases of this prolific artists career. It addresses his works in various media alongside his extensive writings and his collaborations with various artists' groups from the 1940s through the mid-1960s. Situating Jorn's work in an international, post-Second World War context, Karen Kurczynski reframes our understanding of the 1950s, away from the Abstra...
This book examines the art of Cobra, a network of poets and artists from Copenhagen, Brussels, and Amsterdam (1948–1951). Although the name stood for the organizers’ home cities, the Cobra artists hailed from countries in Europe, Africa, and the United States. This book investigates how a group of struggling young artists attempted to reinvent the international avant-garde after the devastation of the Second World War, to create artistic experiments capable of facing the challenges of postwar society. It explores how Cobra’s experimental, often collective art works and publications relate to broader debates in Europe about the use of images to commemorate violent events, the possibility of free expression in an art world constrained by Cold War politics, the breakdown of primitivism in an era of colonial independence movements, and the importance of spontaneity in a society increasingly dominated by the mass media. This book will be of interest to scholars in art history, 20th-century modern art, avant-garde arts, and European history.
Arranged in alphabetical order, these 5 volumes encompass the history of the cultural development of America with over 2300 entries.
Lennon and McCartney: Painting with Sound explores the work of two of the most influential composers of the twentieth century. Five decades after the breakup of the Beatles, the music of John Lennon and Paul McCartney continues to fascinate and inspire. Evidence suggests that their uniquely eclectic approach can be traced back to the Liverpool College of Art. Following on that idea, this book explores the creative dialogue between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, both with the Beatles and on their own, that grew out of that early influence. The book is presented in three sections: I. Stretching the Canvas considers the Liverpool College of Art as the backdrop for John and Paul’s early colla...
When images look like something they do so because they are different from what they resemble. This difference is not sufficiently captured by the traditional theories of representation and mimesis, and yet it is the condition for any such theory. Various contemporary image theorists have pointed out that Plato already understood that images are not what they look like. Images have their own existence which cannot be identified with a concept, but should be examined in terms of actions. This book comprises fifteen articles that investigate what images do, particularly in relation to the disciplines of architecture, design and visual arts. It claims that it is the differentiating power of images-their actions-which constitutes their capacity to look like something they are not, as well as create something that does not yet exist. What Images Do addresses the crucial role that images might play in producing and investigating what we have not yet seen or understood in and of reality.
Material Imagination examines the interrelated concepts of matter, materialism, and materiality in postwar European art, from 1946-1972. Provides a unique perspective on European art by prioritizing material dimensions over concept or context, while also paying attention to theoretical and historical concerns Explores artists’ methods and materials in order to better understand the social and cultural environments in which their works of art were made Demonstrates how materials can be harnessed to affect the critical interpretation of artwork Brings together exceptional illustrations and new research in eight essays by art historians and scholars
Drawing from Life explores revolutionary drawing and sketching in the early People’s Republic of China (1949–1965) in order to discover how artists created a national form of socialist realism. Tracing the development of seminal works by the major painters Xu Beihong, Wang Shikuo, Li Keran, Li Xiongcai, Dong Xiwen, and Fu Baoshi, author Christine I. Ho reconstructs how artists grappled with the representational politics of a nascent socialist art. The divergent approaches, styles, and genres presented in this study reveal an art world that is both heterogeneous and cosmopolitan. Through a history of artistic practices in pursuit of Maoist cultural ambitions—to forge new registers of experience, new structures of feeling, and new aesthetic communities—this original book argues that socialist Chinese art presents a critical, alternative vision for global modernism.
A Cultural History of the Avant-Garde in the Nordic Countries 1925-1950 is the first publication to deal with the avant-garde in the Nordic countries in this period. The essays cover a wide range of avant-garde manifestations: literature, visual arts, theatre, architecture and design, film, radio, body culture and magazines. It is the first major historical work to consider the Nordic avant-garde in a transnational perspective that includes all the arts and to discuss the role of the avant-garde not only within the aesthetic field but in a broader cultural and political context: the pre-war and wartime responses to international developments, the new cultural institutions, sexual politics, the impact of refugees and the new start after the war.
Fascism, Architecture, and the Claiming of Modern Milan, 1922–1943 chronicles the dramatic architectural and urban transformation of Milan during the nearly twenty years of fascist rule. The commercial and financial centre of Italy and the birthplace of fascism, Milan played a central role in constructing fascism’s national image and identity as it advanced from a revolutionary movement to an established state power. Using a wide range of archival sources, Lucy M. Maulsby analyses the public buildings, from the relatively modest party headquarters to the grandiose Palace of Justice and the Palazzo del Popolo d’Italia, through which Mussolini intended to enhance the city’s image and solidify fascism’s presence in Milan. Maulsby establishes the extent to which Milan’s economic structure, social composition, and cultural orientation affected Il Duce’s plans for the city, demonstrating the influences on urban development that were beyond the control of the fascist regime. By placing Milan’s urban change in its historic context, this book expands our understanding of the relationship between fascism and the modern city.