This collection of essays stems from the conference 'Internationalism and the Arts: Anglo-European Cultural Exchange at the Fin de Siecle' held at Magdalene College, Cambridge, in July 2006. The growth of internationalism in Europe at the fin de siecle encouraged confidence in the possibility of peace. A wartorn century later, it is easy to forget such optimism. Flanked by the Franco-Prussian war and the First World War, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries were marked by rising militarism. Themes of national consolidation and aggression have become key to any analysis of the period. Yet despite the drive towards political and cultural isolation, transnational networks gathered increasing support. This book examines the role played by artists, writers, musicians and intellectuals in promoting internationalism. It explores the range of individuals, media and movements involved, from cosmopolitan characters such as Walter Sickert and Henri La Fontaine, through internationalist art societies, to periodicals, performance, and the mobility of the Arts and Crafts Movement. The discussion takes in the geographical breadth of Europe, incorporating Belgium, Bohemia, Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Russia and Slovakia. Drawing on the work of scholars from across Europe and America, the collection makes a statement about the complexity of European identities at the fin de siecle, as well as about the possibilities for interdisciplinary research in our own era.

The period from the 1870s to the 1920s was marked by an interplay between nationalisms and internationalisms, culminating in the First World War, on the one hand, and the creation of the League of Nations, on the other. The arts were central to this debate, contributing both to the creation of national traditions and to the emergence of ideas, objects and networks that forged connections between nations or that enabled internationalists to imagine a different world order altogether. The essays presented here explore the ways in which the arts operated internationally during this crucial period of nation-making, and how they helped to challenge national conceptions of citizenship, society, homeland and native tongue. The collection arises from the AHRC-funded research network Internationalism and Cultural Exchange, 1870-1920 (ICE; 2009-2014) and its enquiry into the histories of cultural internationalism and their historiographical implications. This collection has been edited by members of the ICE network convened by Grace Brockington and Sarah Victoria Turner.

The early twentieth century is usually remembered as an era of rising nationalism and military hostility, culminating in the disaster of the First World War. Yet it was marked also by a vigorous campaign against war, a movement that called into question the authority of the nation-state. This book explores the role of artists and writers in the formation of a modern, secular peace movement in Britain, and the impact of ideas about "positive peace" on their artistic practice. From Grace Brockington's meticulous study emerges a rich and interconnected world of Hellenistic dance, symbolist stage design, marionettes, and book illustration, produced in conscious opposition to the values of an increasingly regimented and militaristic society, and radically different from existing narratives of British wartime culture. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art

This sumptuously illustrated volume, edited by eminent war historian Joanna Bourke, offers a comprehensive visual, cultural and historical account of the ways in which armed conflict has been represented in art. Covering the last two centuries, the book shows how the artistic portrayal of war has changed, from a celebration of heroic exploits to a more modern, truthful depiction of warfare and its consequences. Featuring illustrations by artists including Paul Nash, Judy Chicago, Pablo Picasso, Melanie Friend, Francis Bacon, Kathe Kollwitz, Yves Klein, Robert Rauschenberg, Dora Meeson, Otto Dix and many others, as well as those who are often overlooked, such as children, women, non-European artists and prisoners of war, this extensive survey is a fitting and timely contribution to the understanding, memory and commemoration of war, and will appeal to a wide audience interested in warfare, art, history or politics. Introduction by Joanna Bourke, with essays by Jon Bird, Monica Bohm-Duchen, Joanna Bourke, Grace Brockington, James Chapman, Michael Corris, Patrick Crogan, Jo Fox, Paul Gough, Gary Haines, Clare Makepeace, Sue Malvern, Sergiusz Michalski, Manon Pignot, Anna Pilkington, Nicholas J. Saunders, John Schofield, John D. Szostak, Sarah Wilson and Jay Winter.

Of Modernism presents original research by ten contemporary scholars of modern art. By turns provocative, insightful and informative, these essays – written in honour of the eminent British art historian Christopher Green – rethink some of the crucial artworks, problems and practitioners of European high modernism, from Les Demoiselles d’Avignon to Guernica, avant-gardism to internationalism, Joan Miró to Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe. Professor Christopher Green has made an outstanding contribution to the historiography of European modernism. As a teacher at the Courtauld Institute, his wide-ranging scholarship and generosity of mind have inspired several generations of students, many of whom have gone on to lead distinguished careers in the worlds of art and academia. Of Modernism is a collection written in his honour. Questions about modernism shape the ten essays presented here, explicitly or otherwise, and they come in as many different shapes. However, the subject-matter is predominantly European (which still includes Britain at the time of writing!); the method is historical, true to Chris’s conviction that ‘the work of an artist is, in its largest sense, inseparable from history thought of in its largest sense’; and finally, the canon is open, situating Picasso – a theme in the collection – alongside artists far more obscure, and in the context of a visual culture which is strikingly eclectic and often ephemeral. The ten contributors to this collection – Fae Brauer, Grace Brockington, Penelope Curtis, Linda Goddard, Nancy Ireson, William Jeffett, Silvia Loreti, C.F.B. Miller, Gavin Parkinson and Sarah Victoria Turner – all studied with Chris as postgraduates at the Courtauld, and several have also collaborated with him as curators. They have all moved on to distinguished careers worldwide, ranging from critics and historians to eminent professors and museum professionals.