This book explores the forces that shaped German Expressionism in the years before World War I. Jill Lloyd discusses the politics of the movement, the various indigenous political currents that influenced it, and in particular, the appeal of the primitive, an appeal that was enhanced by Germany's colonial aspirations and adventures. Lloyd argues that primitivism and modernity were the two poles of the German Expressionist movement. The artists' engagement with the city and with their own time and place led them to paint colourful, optimistic cabaret and circus scenes as well as lonely, alienating Berlin streets. At the same time, the Expressionists searched for a counter image to the modern world and turned to the eternal and timeless notions of the primitive. Some, such as Max Pechstein and Emil Nolde, even travelled to the South Seas, following in the footsteps of Gauguin. According to Lloyd, the Expressionists' concepts of the primitive and their ideas about non-European peoples and tribal art were reinforced by patterns of thought and colonial attitudes of the time. Lloyd finds links between the Expressionists' approach to primitive arts and crafts and the ethnography, sciences, politics, art history, and popular culture of their era. And as she examines their paintings, graphics, photographs, carved furniture and wall hangings, she shows how this diverse activity reflected an ideology that associated primitive peoples and unfettered behaviour with a fresh and more authentic culture. This book won the first National Art Book Prize.
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Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Good writing on this subject has long been confined to exhibition catalog essays and works in the German language. Lloyd's monograph redresses this situation. However--a word to the wise--this book is really intended for the specialist. While the author takes great pains to make her points as salient as possible, the interconnections make complicated reading. Lloyd uses an interdisciplinary approach to treating the politics inherent in German expressionist art. Her richest arguments, backed by a fine choice of illustrations, center on the concept of Primitivism as a means of artistic communication. Prompted by new research in the last decade, the author has created a scholarly reinterpretation of the motives behind one of Europe's most dynamic modern art movements. This is a revelatory acquisition for research and academic libraries, but general collections might want to stick to Donald Gordon's Expressionism: Art and Idea (Yale Univ. Pr., 1987).
- Paula A. Baxter,
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Paula A. Baxter,
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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