Chapter 29: Modernism in Europe and America, 1900 to 1945

Chapter 29: Modernism in Europe and America, 1900 to 1945

 

Preview: The period in art between 1900 and 1945 in Europe and America was intense and marked by international exchange due to the onset of two world wars. In the early part of the century, Pablo Picasso’s Cubism and German Expressionism represented radical new ways of representing reality. Futurists in Italy captured the dynamism and movement of modern life, while Dadaists across Europe and in the U.S. traded in obscure, nonsensical protests against rational society. In 1913, the Armory Show in New York introduced American audiences to European modern art. The Harlem Renaissance saw African American artists embrace modernist expressions, and under the direction of Alfred Stieglitz, American photography defines a distinctive style. In Europe, the Neue Sachlichkeit movement developed in Germany as a reaction to World War I. The 1920s saw the emergence of Surrealism, Russian Constructivism, and the Bauhaus in Germany, which promoted the idea of “total architecture” and the integration of arts. Between 1930 and 1945, Mexican artists Orozco and Rivera painted murals thematizing Mexico’s history, while Frida Kahlo explored autobiographical, psychological themes. In the mid-20^th century, Frank Lloyd Wright was recognized as the leading architect in the U.S., and his expressive, daring structures continue to inspire architects.