Esprit de Corps: The Art of the Parisian Avant-Garde and the First World War, 1914-1925

by Kenneth Eric Silver

In analyzing the changes in modern art between the outbreak of World War I and the Paris Exposition des Arts Dcoratifs of 1925, Kenneth Silver shows that the Parisian avant-garde was deeply involved in French society and its dominant values and relationships. He radically reinterprets masterpieces of modern art, from Matisse and Picasso to Lger and Le Corbusier, demonstrating how their creators all refer, consciously or not, to the Great War and its aftermath. "It's impossible to suppose that anybody will ever study the French art of this period without acknowledging dependence on Silver's huge book. In it a genuine historical crisis is studied by minute application to works of art and artistic controversies. It sets high standards."--Frank Kermode, The London Review of Books "One of the outstanding books of the past decade and an indispensable addition to the history of twentieth-century art."--Holland Cotter, Art in America "Ranks among the small number of works necessary to the understanding of art of this century."--Philippe Dagen, Le Monde

Genres: Art, Nonfiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Kenneth Eric Silver is Professor Of Art History emeritus at New York University. He earned his B.A. in Fine Arts and French at New York University in 1972 and his M.A. (1975) and Ph.D. (1981) at Yale University.

Reviews

[Rodney Welch]

Good book about the underpinnings of modern art, and the way
French art swerved from nationalism to individualism.