Modernism's History: A Study in Twentieth-Century Art and Ideas

Rating:
Summary: Grand Review of Modernism
Review: Bernard Smith is a brilliant writer & art historian with a significant position in Australia's cultural affairs.This book is the result of mulling over the art of our times for the best part of 70 years. His books on the art of Australia & the Pacific Basin have long been the standard texts on the subject. He is still a lively correspondent in the small, intellectual Australian magazines. Even given these accomplishments, I was mightily impressed with his overview of Modernism, presented herein. I'd stored his auto-biography,'The Boy Aeodotus' by my bed shelf longer than I care to admit, deterred by the endistanced tone he took in referring to his formative self in the third person. Recently overcoming this, I delighted in his ability to communicate his brave and passionate curiosity, and, breathlessly, plunged into this tome. His notion of the 'formalesque' was initially an obstacle, until I was absorbed by his argument. He positions this 'style' as emergent in the 1890s & exhausted by the 1960s (coincidental with the 'new' brace of critical art writers such as Leo Steinberg & Michael Fried). In addition to art movements, Smith gathers social, political, economic & philosophical trends to urge his case. The sub-headings to each chapter, in themselves, would make this a superb intellectual venture. His history of art theorizing is a masterful summary that will clear the nostrils. His emphasis on Surrealism's impact on the 20th century is well-placed. This is vigorous, pacey writing, free of catch-cry paternalism and reminiscant of the generous, Olympian vision of Jacques Barzun's,'From Dawn To Decadence'.