Modern Art Despite Modernism

By Robert Storr and Glenn D. Lowry

Throughout the twentieth century, the evolution of mainstream Modernism in the arts has been shadowed and made complex by alternative expressions of a seemingly retrograde type, art that appears to set back the clock or to redirect the stream of progress. Modern Art Despite Modernism explores the anti-Modernist impulse in painting and sculpture through socio-cultural conflicts of the 1920s, 30s and 40s. Texts by Robert Storr advocate the strengths of this impulse in paintings and drawings by Otto Dix, Lucian Freud, Francesco Clemente and even Pablo Picasso--and note the enduring popularity of such artists as Pavel Tchelitchew, whose "Hide and Seek," along with Andrew Wyeth's "Christina's World," remain among the public's favorite pictures. Storr also discusses taste and its implications, both part and present, for institutions like The Museum of Modern Art. This book was published as the second in a series of three titles, in conjunction with the millennial exhibitions schedule of MoMA2000 at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0870700316
• ISBN13: 9780870700316
• Release Date: July 2002
• Publisher: Museum of Modern Art
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 3.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 9.2" x 12.4"

Customer Reviews

MODERN ART DESPITE MODERNISM

A superior book and fun to read! In this publication Robert Stoor, Senior Curator of MOMA's Department of Painting and Sculpture, gives an extraordinary account of some carefully chosen examples of the museum's art collection. After viewing the exhibit, I purchased this book primarily because of its stunning assortment of color plates and illustrations. The value of Stoor's commentary, however, becomes quickly apparent. The narrative gives a brief but very revealing insight into most all of the works pictured in the book and adroitly articulates the conflicts, reactions, disparities, and shifting paradigms of modern art - often in conflict with twentieth century modernism. The book walks us through our last century, pausing at all the right places and examining all the right artists. The theme is easy to follow; the book is profoundly instructive.