The history of 20th-century visual arts can no longer be written as a succession of avant-garde movements, contends art historian Bernard Smith in this book. He argues that a return to the concept of period style is inevitable and that modernism - the dominant style of art that emerged at the end of the 19th-century and continued through to the 1960s - deserves recognition as a period style. Smith renames this period Formalesque since it is no longer modern and since it emphasizes the formal values of art more than any previous period. In a wide-ranging reformation of art history in the 20th century, the author defines the nature of Formalesque - an avant-garde style that arose between 1890 and World War I, was institutionalized between the world wars, and flourished anew between 1945 and 1960. Identifying the Formalesque period, says Smith, makes it possible also to identify dialectical adversaries, such true oppositional avant-garde styles of the 20th-century as Dada, Surrealism, and the Neue Sachlichkeit. These constitute the formative elements of the modernism - now called Postmodernism - that became increasingly dominant after 1960. The author locates 20th-century artistic movements and developments in a broad cultural context and concludes with an examination of the relation between the Formalesque and European and American cultural Imperialism.
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Amazon.com Review
If you are interested in how art movements become popular and how style changes, Modernism's History is for you. It takes a series of art movements and reorganizes them as a cohesive whole. Author Bernard Smith offers very specific and often academic explanations for the rise of an art that he terms the "Formalesque": "The emergence of the Formalesque as a period style is basically the story of the reduction of the concept of style to that of form under the overarching conditions of cultural imperialism ... the desire to create a universal art with an authentic European look." He traces the Formalesque's beginnings from the very end of the 19th century up through what he calls high Formalesque in the 1960s. Smith touches on the Formalesque's relationships to World War I, primitivism, dada, psychoanalysis, Marxism, and philosophy--among other varied topics. His approach is a holistic, albeit slightly conspiracy-theory-based, one; politics, language, and the avant-garde all play a part in this reinterpretation of modernism. Tight arguments strongly support what might otherwise be called sweeping generalizations in Smith's attempts to illustrate how the Formalesque changed definitions of beauty by universalizing the terms and then became "an effective imperialising project" around the globe. This is not an easy read, but it's well worth the effort for readers who want to learn more about contemporary art history. --Jennifer Cohen
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Grand Review of Modernism,
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This review is from: Modernism's History: A Study in 20th Century Art and Ideas (Paperback)
Bernard Smith is a brilliant writer & art historian with a significant position in Australia's cultural affairs.This book is the result of mulling over the art of our times for the best part of 70 years. His books on the art of Australia & the Pacific Basin have long been the standard texts on the subject. He is still a lively correspondent in the small, intellectual Australian magazines. Even given these accomplishments, I was mightily impressed with his overview of Modernism, presented herein. I'd stored his auto-biography,'The Boy Aeodotus' by my bed shelf longer than I care to admit, deterred by the endistanced tone he took in referring to his formative self in the third person. Recently overcoming this, I delighted in his ability to communicate his brave and passionate curiosity, and, breathlessly, plunged into this tome. His notion of the 'formalesque' was initially an obstacle, until I was absorbed by his argument. He positions this 'style' as emergent in the 1890s & exhausted by the 1960s (coincidental with the 'new' brace of critical art writers such as Leo Steinberg & Michael Fried). In addition to art movements, Smith gathers social, political, economic & philosophical trends to urge his case. The sub-headings to each chapter, in themselves, would make this a superb intellectual venture. His history of art theorizing is a masterful summary that will clear the nostrils. His emphasis on Surrealism's impact on the 20th century is well-placed. This is vigorous, pacey writing, free of catch-cry paternalism and reminiscent of the generous, Olympian vision of Jacques Barzun's,'From Dawn To Decadence'. For more on art visit>rodmoss.com
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