Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism

"Since I was a student at the University of Ghent I have gone back to this book many, many times. At around 900 pages, the book is like an encyclopaedia. Aside from the text itself, it has great further references for anyone wanting to learn more or for further research. The most striking thing for me about this groundbreaking work of art history is not only its content, but also the way it is organised. The presentation is an entirely original way of creating a book and an experience for the reader. Helpfully, the authors include a section on ‘how to read this book’, which may seem at first a bit ironic but in fact for this book, it’s very helpful. Art history from 1900 is presented year by year. Normally a retrospective look at art history will already have pre-selected everything, artworks and historic figures have already been put in categories and given labels. Here, by contrast, it almost feels as though you are reading about events as they happened. When reading it you reconnect even to work you may have seen before in different ways, and actually see what was happening and what artists were doing year by year. What were the key shows or cultural moments? How was an artwork received in its day, the iconic artworks made throughout history? In looking back this way at the 20th century developments in painting, one can see that from the late 60s painting had been gradually but decisively shifted to the periphery from a critical perspective, even though artists have not stopped painting. It’s an interesting watershed in this subject. And while reading this book you feel almost as though you are witnessing this dynamic, as painting is pushed off its plinth. We have the postmodern art movements, Arte Povera, land art, conceptual art of various stripes, Fluxus, performance art and so on. Painting, and in particular more traditional oil painting, had been pushed to the margins of art criticism. Interestingly, as an art form it never disappears. It coexists in this exciting time with a multitude of art forms, an era in which it was far from straightforward to be a painter. In a way, perhaps the most interesting time to be a painter is when the form is contested in such a manner. Art Since 1900 was first published in 2004, almost like a bookend to the previous century, and you can really see in the work of the art critics who are the authors that they came of age in this time of proliferating new movements, the period immediately after the height of modernism. It’s a multifaceted view, so reading it is entirely different in feel to a retrospective, monolithic treatment. That’s where the cross-references are extremely helpful. The layout makes it into a very user-friendly and complete reference volume. With over 800 reproductions, it is also visually comprehensive. The authors have a very good grasp of which cultural shifts were important for understanding developments throughout the decades. Separate heading introductions help to put the reader in the right frame of mind and spirit to understand what was happening in the culture at the time, decade by decade. The primary sources, the further reading section and the bibliography all make this a keystone text for understanding where painting fits in the history of art in the last century. I keep it close to me."