This book presents an audacious account of the ways in which the arts in the Americas were modernized during the first half of the twentieth century. Rather than viewing modernization as a steady progression from one ?ism? to another, Edward J. Sullivan adopts a comparative approach, drawing his examples from North America, the Caribbean, Central and South America. By considering the Americas in this hemispheric sense he is able to tease out many...

"This incisive account of modernism's postwar development examines how painters, such as Joan Mitchell, Barnett Newman, and Rose Piper, invoked tradition in order to respond to, participate in, and disrupt the histories of the movement being written at midcentury. Saul Nelson argues that artists' turn to the past, often dismissed as regressive, offers an important counternarrative to the notion of modernism as always pushing forward. To be a modernist,...

Critic and theorist Alain Locke (1885-1954) was a foundational figure of the Harlem Renaissance who argued that changing self-perceptions among Black artists and writers would alter America's view of itself as a whole. Offering a new interpretation of Locke's influential writings, Kobena Mercer focuses on the importance of cross-cultural entanglement and positions the philosopher as an advocate for an Afromodern aesthetic that drew from both formal...

"This book uncovers a largely overlooked strand of American modernism in Cornell's work that engaged with current issues through the metaphysical aspects of vernacular objects and experiences"--

Historian Gay explores the modernist rebellion that, beginning in the 1840s, transformed art, literature, music, and film with its assault on traditional forms. Beginning his epic study with Baudelaire, whose lurid poetry scandalized French stalwarts, Gay traces the revolutionary path of modernism from its Parisian origins to its emergence as the dominant cultural movement in world capitals such as Berlin and New York. This book presents a pageant...

"The first critical analysis of Jaune Quick-to-See Smith's paintings, this book focuses on Smith's role as a modernist and her status as a well-known Native American artist. With close readings of Smith's work, Kastner shows how Smith contributes to and critiques American art and its history"--

Over the course of his distinguished career, Robert Hughes wrote with brutal honesty about art, architecture, culture, religion-and himself. The Spectacle of Skill brings together some of his most unforgettable pieces, culled from nine of his most widely read and important books, alongside never-before-published pages from his unfinished second volume of memoirs. Showcasing Hughes's enormous range, this indispensable anthology offers a uniquely cohesive...

"Lola Álvarez Bravo (1903-1993) lived and worked in Mexico City from 1927 to 1993 where she played a critical role in the country's cultural renaissance. With over forty photographs and photomontages, this book spans the artist's prolific five-decade career. Beyond her creative output as a photographer, this catalogue addresses Álvarez Bravo's role in building and securing the legacy of the post-revolutionary period through her work as a political...