Modern European Art

228 Pages·1985·37.622 MB·English

by  Alan Bowness

Alan Bowness
modern
European
The Harbrace History of Art

2
MODERN EUROPEAN ART

ALAN BOWNESS
SH-t H4rS°\
MODERN
EUROPEAN ART
with 207 illustrations
tfiJ
HARCOURT BRACE JOVANOVICH,
INC.
5
(QCOPYRIGHT1972THAMESANDHUDSONLTD,LONDON
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedor
transmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,
includingphotocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system,
withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNo.77—183243
ISBNO-I5-561080-5PAPERBOUND
ISBNO-15-161OOO-2HARDBOUND
REPRINTED 198
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D.L. TO-951S5.
CONTENTS
6 Acknowledgments
7 Preface
9 CHAPTER ONE
Manetatthe SalondesRefuses:
The Birth ofModern Art
22 CHAPTER TWO
Impressionism
47 CHAPTER THREE
Post'Impressiomsm
73 CHAPTER FOUR
Symbolism
87 CHAPTER FIVE
Expressionism
IO5 CHAPTER SIX
Cubism
129 CHAPTER SEVEN
Abstract Art
I49 CHAPTER EIGHT
Surrealism
166 CHAPTER NINE
Postscript: Abstract Expressionism and After
173 CHAPTER TEN
Sculpture
195 CHAPTER ELEVEN
Architecture
217 Bibliography
221 Index
Acknowledgments
The publishers are indebted to the museums and
collectors who provided photographs of works in
their possession,andalsotothefollowingindividuals
andinstitutionswhosuppliedphotographsorallowed
themtobereproduced.
Copyright A.C.L. Brussels 187, 191; Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam 61, 62, 63, 67, 68; Arts
CouncilofGreatBritain no, 169;OliverBaker163;
Blauel 10; Archives Henry van de Velde, Biblio'
theque Royale, Brussels (contemporary photograph
by Charles Lefebure) 188; Brecht'Einzig 207;
Bulloz 5, 34, 36, 49, 76, 79, 82; The Courtauld
Institute ofArt, University ofLondon 26, 87, 90;
Verlag DuMont Schauberg 148, 198; French
Government Tourist Office 202, 203, 205; Keith
Gibson 190; Giraudon 2, 15, 19, 20, 29, 31, 37, 39,
40, 52, 60, 97, 112, 162; Grubenbecher 100;
Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, The Hague
197; Hedrich'Blessing 194; TheMuseumofFinnish
Architecture, Helsinki 206; Tate Gallery 182;
Murray K. Keyes 55; Galerie Louise Leiris in;
National Monuments Record, London 186; Mas
189; Maeght 104, 105; Museum of Modern An,
NewYork144;ArchivesPhotographiques,Paris1,8,
9,30;RogerViollet23;DrFranzStoedtner192,193,
196, 199, 200, 201; Eileen Tweedy65, 78, 128, 129;
Charles Uht 107; United States Information Centre
204; O. Voering80; Weill 178; LiselotteWitzel 16;
Julian Wonter 185.
Preface
In the pages that follow, I have tried to explain the eve
lution and development ofmodern art in straightforward
narrative terms, so that the reader will, I hope, experience
thatfeelingofa natural organicgrowth which in my view
characterizes art and artistic change.
Art is the creation of individuals, but it is also the
expression of a place and a time. Thus the story of
modern art is told in terms ofa handful ofmen ofgenius,
whose work pursues a dialogue about the meaning o^
painting, and whose lives are lived against the social,
economic and cultural background ofthe last hundred
years. In this period, the idea ofa 'Modern art' has been
propounded, developed, and constantly attacked in an
atmosphere ofrevolutionary confusion; yet by returning
to the beginningsofthe modern movementandfollowing
the argument stage by stage, a compelling logic does
emerge, even in its most extreme manifestations.
For the sake ofclarity and readability, I have concent
trated on major artists and issues, and in general I have
discussed only works of art that could be illustrated;
accordingly, the book is far from being a comprehensive
surveyoftheartofthelasthundredyears. And although it
is called Modem European Art, references to American
artists are introduced where the narrative demands. This
becomes increasingly necessary in the later stages, but I
have not attempted to bring the story up to date, and the
treatmentofnewartafter 1940 isacursoryone. Thisisnot
because I believe that art has come to an end, but the
particular development that I am concerned to trace
does seem to me to reach a certain conclusion, and the
whole way in which this book is written demands a
measure ofhistorical perspective.
The central theme is the evolution ofmodern painting.
Sculpture and architecture are discussed in similar terms,
but in separate chapters: it would have been too coiv
Preface fusing to write about all three arts in a simultaneous
chronological sequence. In the architecture chapter I
have stressed connections with the painting becausethese
arenotalways mademanifest, and in anycaseI amnotan
architectural historian. I am extremely aware of the
omissions in this chapter and elsewhere, but in any book
ofthis kind a great deal has to be left out.
Therearenoreferences in thetext, butthe bibliography
at the end provides sources and a guide to further
reading. My own debts are considerable, and will be
recognized by specialist scholars, who will appreciate
better than anyone that a book like Modern European Art
can bewritten only with the help ofothers. Inthis respect
I should liketo makeaparticularacknowledgmenttomy
teachers, colleagues and students at the Courtauld
Institute, to all ofwhom I am in different ways extremely
grateful.
Alan Bowness
London, lgji