Romantic Moderns
English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper
Published on 30. March 2015
Book
Paperback/Softback
320 pages
978-0-500-28972-3 (ISBN)
Description
While the battles for modern art and society were being fought in France and Spain, it has seemed a betrayal that John Betjeman and John Piper were in love with a provincial world of old churches and tea-shops. In this multi-awardwinning book - now available in paperback - Alexandra Harris tells a different story. In the 1930s and 1940s, artists and writers explored what it meant to be alive in England. Eclectically, passionately, wittily, they showed that 'the modern' need not be at war with the past. Constructivists and conservatives could work together, and even the Bauhaus emigre, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, was beguiled into taking photographs for Betjeman's nostalgic Oxford University Chest. This modern English renaissance was shared by writers, painters, gardeners, architects, critics, tourists and composers. John Piper, Virginia Woolf, Florence White, Christopher Tunnard, Evelyn Waugh, E. M. Forster and the Sitwells are part of the story, along with Bill Brandt, Graham Sutherland, Eric Ravilious and Cecil Beaton.
Reviews / Votes
'It would be impossible to over-emphasise what a clever book Romantic Moderns is ... not just an important book but a deeply pleasurable one, too' - Guardian 'The only disappointing thing about Romantic Moderns is that it comes to an end' - The Times 'The originality of Romantic Moderns is the extraordinary breadth of its focus ... a joy to read' - Sunday Times 'Highly eclectic and original ... a book that makes you think freshly about that perennially puzzling question of what it means to be British. It's elegant and wittily written, beautifully designed and splendidly illustrated: altogether, an admirable debut' - Martin Gayford, Sunday Telegraph 'Remarkable ... Harris's insights are based on a close, imaginative reading of collaborations and connections mapped through friendships and unlikely encounters. Her book is full of vivid snapshots, telling detail and beguiling loose ends' - Times Literary Supplement 'A brilliant piece of work that manages to be both comprehensive and coherent as it tells a compelling story about 20th-century English art ... a significant contribution to the history of English culture' - Adam FouldsMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Illustrations
31 Illustrations, black and white; 48 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
780 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-500-28972-3 (9780500289723)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alexandra Harris studied at Oxford and at the Courtauld Institute in London, and worked at Christie's for a year before returning to Oxford to write a doctorate on art and literature in the 1930s. She is now a lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool, running courses on Modernism and American writing, and leading the MA in Contemporary Literature. Her first full-length book, Romantic Moderns, was the winner of the 2010 Guardian First Book Award. Alexandra Harris was also a winner in the BBC's 'New Generation Thinkers' contest in 2011.