Speaking of the emergence of modernism, author Virginia Woolf
famously said: "On or about December 1910, human character
changed." But was the shift to modernism really so revolutionary?
J. M. Mancini argues that it was not. She proposes that the origins
of the movement can in fact be traced well into the nineteenth
century.
Several cultural developments after the Civil War gradually set
the stage for modernism, Mancini contends. New mass art media
appeared on the scene, as did a national network of museums and
groundbreaking initiatives in art education.These new institutions
provided support for future modernists and models for the creators
of the avant-garde. Simultaneously, art critics began to embrace
abstraction after the Civil War, both for aesthetic reasons and to
shore up their own nascent profession. Modernism was thus linked,
Mancini argues, to the emergence of cultural hierarchy.
A work of impeccable scholarship and unusual breadth, the book
challenges some of the basic ideas about both the origins of
twentieth-century modernism and the character of Gilded-Age
culture. It will appeal not only to art historians but also to
scholars in American history and American studies.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!