Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Modern

Genius, Madness, and One Tumultuous Decade That Changed Art Forever

ebook
1 of 2 copies available
1 of 2 copies available

A revelatory, fast-paced account of the most exciting, frenzied, and revolutionary decade in art history—1905 to the dawn of World War I in 1914—and the avant-garde artists who indelibly changed our visual landscape

Modern begins on a specific day—March 22, 1905—at a specific place: the Salon des Indépendants in Paris, where works of art we recognize as modern were first exhibited. Drawing on his forty five-year fine art career, author Philip Hook illuminates how this new art came to be—and how truly shocking it was.

With Hook's expert guidance, we witness movement upon movement that burst forth in dizzying succession: Fauvism, Expressionism, Primitivism, Symbolism, Cubism, Futurism, and Abstract art. As Hook barnstorms across Europe—to London, Germany, Moscow, Scandinavia, and everywhere modern art was being made—his vivid accounts breathe new life into the work and times of Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Kandinsky, Malevich, Klimt, Schiele, Munch, and nearly two hundred other artists who painted, sculpted, and exhibited alongside them, and whose collective genius was understood and appreciated by few at the time.

Hook reconsiders the decade from a series of fresh angles: What was the conventional art against which Modernism sought to rebel? Why were avant-garde artists so self-obsessed? What persuaded a few bold collectors to buy difficult modern art? And why did others pay so much money for Old Masters at the same time?

Modern helps us answer these questions and more—and to see how avant-garde artists marshaled their genius (and oftentimes their madness) to create works of such profound consequence, they still reverberate today—and which, taken together, made for a movement more influential than even the Renaissance.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2022

      Art dealer and auctioneer Hook (Popular Nineteenth Century Painting) delves into modern art and its explosion onto the scene. It began at the turn of the 20th century, when new movements such as fauvism, expressionism, symbolism, abstraction, and more sprang up. As the pace of life quickened, avant-garde artists rose to the occasion. They were happy to shock people with their "selfish art," created more to please themselves rather than society. Hook describes each movement and follows the flow of modern art from Paris outward. Gauguin, C�zanne, and Van Gogh, who did most of his work in France, were the forerunners of this new movement. Everything that happened in France rippled outward to inspire artists like Klimt, Munch, and Modigliani, among many others. Not all major cities were receptive to this change. We also learn that this selfish art was not without consequence. Following your instinct above all else rarely ends well. Unfortunately, this decade was brought to an abrupt end with the start of World War I, when attention shifted and many artists were the perfect age to be drafted. Even with this sad end it is impossible to imagine art as we know it without this great influence. VERDICT Those interested in art history, art collecting, and the lives of artists will not be able to put this down.--Rebecca Kluberdanz Honsinger

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Loading