Fin-de-si???cle France was a period of unrest, with strikes, demonstrations, and anarchist terrorism reflecting deep social and political differences. Yet at the same time, this decade produced a vibrant visual culture--monumental sculpture, mural decoration, avant-garde painting, posters, illustrations, and photography--much of which was used to articulate France's ideological arguments. This fascinating book shows how four key issues in social debate were treated by contemporary artists. Richard Thomson begins by ...
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Fin-de-si???cle France was a period of unrest, with strikes, demonstrations, and anarchist terrorism reflecting deep social and political differences. Yet at the same time, this decade produced a vibrant visual culture--monumental sculpture, mural decoration, avant-garde painting, posters, illustrations, and photography--much of which was used to articulate France's ideological arguments. This fascinating book shows how four key issues in social debate were treated by contemporary artists. Richard Thomson begins by exploring disquieting attitudes toward the body and sexuality that resulted from France's concerns about national decadence after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. He then considers how artists depicted crowds and represented public discomfort about mass unrest. Next he discusses religious imagery during a decade when the Catholic Church was attempting to come to terms with Republicanism. And finally he addresses the question of revenge against Germany for the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, showing that it was kept alive in contemporary art.
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Seller's Description:
VG (Slight wear to head of dust jacket, otherwise clean. ) Black cloth, gilt letters on spine, black & color pictorial dust jacket, 256 pp., color & BW illus. "Examines the art of this period and shows how it affected--and was affected by--four key issues in social debate. Richard Thomson begins by exploring disquieting attitudes toward the body and sexuality that resulted from France's concerns about national decadence after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. He then considers how artists depicted crowds in relation to modern theories articulting public discomfort about mass unrest. Next he discusses religious imagery during a decade when the Catholic Church was attempting to come to terms with Republicanism. And finally he addresses the question of revenge against Germany for the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, showing that it wsa kept alive in contemporary art. Integrating social issues with those of the fine arts, discussing little-known as well as more famous art and artists, this book enriches our understanding of both the history and art of a significant era." (dj) Contents as follows: Public health and private desire: exploring modernity and the erotic--Picturing and policing the crowd--The religious debate: representing faith, defining modernity--"Always think about it; never discuss it": imagery and the idea of revanche--Reading the 1890s.
