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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
ART BETWEEN THE WARS
Google Earth Coordinates:
Chrysler Building, NYC
Schroder House, Utrecht, Holland
Villa Savoye, Villa Savoye, France
Woolworth Building, New York, NY
Videos and Podcasts:
Hausmann Raoul Audio
Hausmann Raoul Poem
Man Ray: Le Retour à la Raison
Video Links:
Diego Rivera’s Frescoes
La Villa Savoye
Piet Mondrian’s Place in Art History
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Dada
Key Images
Jean (Hans) Arp, The Entombment of the Birds and Butterflies (Head of Tzara), p. 986,
28.1
Marcel Duchamp, Fountain, p. 986, 28.2
Raoul Hausmann, Mechanical Head (Spirit of the Age), p. 988, 28.3
Primary Source: Hannah Höch (1889-1978), From an interview with Édouard Roditi, p.
991
The seemingly irrational nature of Dada was a direct response to the despair of World
War I. Dada’s liberation of technique and materials opened new possibilities for
artistic creation.
One of Duchamp s most well-known works is Fountain, a urinal that he submitted for
inclusion in the 1917 exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists. Duchamp
called his Fountain an Assisted Readymade.
Surrealism
Key Images
Pablo Picasso, Three Dancers, p. 994, 28.9
Pablo Picasso, Head of a Woman, p. 994, 28.10
Julio González, Head, p. 995, 28.11
Surrealism opened the exploration of the subconscious as an avenue for art, basing
this style of art on the theories of Sigmund Freud.
Some Surrealists used the technique of automatic drawing to evoke the unconscious.
Organic Sculpture of the 1930s
Key Images
Alexander Calder, Lobster Trap and Fish Tail, p. 1001, 28.20
Henry Moore, Recumbent Figure, p. 1002, 28.21
Barbara Hepworth, Sculpture with Color (Deep Blue and Red), p. 1003, 28.22
Primary Source: Barbara Hepworth (1903-
Many sculptors were inspired by Surrealism to explore universal truths under the
surface of things. Drawing on objects from the natural world, these artists worked
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Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth explored biomorphic abstraction in their works.
Creating Utopias
Key Images
Vladimir Tatlin, Corner Counterrelief, p. 1004, 28.23
Vladimir Tatlin,
Alexander Rodchenko, p. 1005, 28.25
Varvara Fedorvna Stepanova, Design for Sportswear, p. 1005, 28.26
Piet Mondrian, Composition en Rouge, Bleu et Jaune (Composition with Red, Blue, and
Primary Source: Piet Mondrian (1872-
Le Corbusier (1886-1965), From Towards a New Architecture (1923)
Materials and Techinques: Reinforced Concrete, p. 1013
The Bauhaus embraced the cause of Productivism.
Art in America: Modernity, Spirituality, and Regionalism
Key Images
Joseph Stella, The Voice of the City (New York Interpreted), p. 1016, 28.38
Paul Strand, Wire Wheel, p. 1017, 28.39
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Charles Demuth, My Egypt, p. 1019, 28.42
Stuart Davis, Hot Still-Scape for Six Colors Seventh Avenue Style, p. 1020, 28.43
William van Alen, Chrysler Building, New York, p. 1021, 28.44
While some American artists focused on issues of national identity, others, including
the consumerism and industrialization of the early twentieth century.
Mexican Art: Seeking a National Identity
Key Images
Diego Rivera, Man, Controller of the Universe, p. 1026, 28.50
Frida Kahlo, The Two Fridas, p. 1027, 28.51
Manuel Álvarez Bravo, La Buena Fama Durmiendo (Good Reputation Sleeping),
p.1027, 28.52
Between WWI and WWII, many European, Mexican, and American artists used art
The Eve of World War II
Key Images
Edward Hopper, Early Sunday Morning, p. 1028, 28.53
John Heartfield, As in the Middle Ages, So in the Third Reich, p. 1031, 28.57
Pablo Picasso, Guernica, p. 1032, 28.58
The Great Depression in the United States and the rise of facism in Germany,
Key Terms/Places/Names
Dada
the Cabaret Voltaire group
Constructivism
Productivism
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways is Salvador Dali s The Persistence of Memory (28.16) exemplary of
Surrealism?
2. Contrast Dadaism in Berlin and Cologne.
6. What is Representational Surrealism?
7. How does Constructivism differ from De Stijl?
10. American Gothic
(28.48)?
Resources
Books
Bernadac, Marie-Laure, and Paule de Bouchet. Picasso, Master of the New Idea.
tr. Carey Lovelace. New York: Harry Abrams, 1993.
DVDs
Artists of the Twentieth Century: Marcel Duchamp (2004). Kultur Video. 110 min.
Artists of the Twentieth Century: Salvador Dali (2004). Kultur Video. 110 min.
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