Baroque between the Wars
Alternative Style in the Arts, 1918-1939
Published on 11. January 2018
Book
Hardback
332 pages
978-0-19-880877-0 (ISBN)
Description
Baroque between the Wars is a fascinating and new account of the arts in the twenties and thirties. We often think of this time as being dominated by modernism, yet the period saw a dialogue between modern baroque - eclectic, playful, camp, open to influence from popular culture yet in dialogue with the past, and unafraid of the grotesque or surreal - and modernism, which was theory-driven, didactic, exclusive, and essentially neo-classical.
Jane Stevenson argues that both baroque and classical forms were equally valid responses to the challenge of modernity, by setting painting and literature in the context of 'minor arts' such as interior design, photography, fashion, ballet, and flower arranging, and by highlighting the social context and sexual politics of creative production.
Accessibly written and generously illustrated, the volume focuses on artists, artefacts, clients, places, and publicists to demonstrate how baroque offered a whole way of being modern which was actively subversive of the tenets of modernism and practised by the people modernism habitually defined as not worth listening to, particularly women and homosexuals.
Jane Stevenson argues that both baroque and classical forms were equally valid responses to the challenge of modernity, by setting painting and literature in the context of 'minor arts' such as interior design, photography, fashion, ballet, and flower arranging, and by highlighting the social context and sexual politics of creative production.
Accessibly written and generously illustrated, the volume focuses on artists, artefacts, clients, places, and publicists to demonstrate how baroque offered a whole way of being modern which was actively subversive of the tenets of modernism and practised by the people modernism habitually defined as not worth listening to, particularly women and homosexuals.
Reviews / Votes
Baroque Between the Wars ... is a witty and elegant account of an alternative style in the arts ... this wide-ranging and hugely entertaining book perfectly combines aesthetic and social history. * Peter Parker, Books of the Year 2018, Times Literary Supplement * The patterns that [Stevenson] contrived to weave out of subjects as widely dispersed as the Sitwells, Arthur Machen, Ronald Firbank and Coco Chanel were endlessly fascinating. * D.J. Taylor, Books of the Year 2018, Times Literary Supplement * A beautifully written account of modern baroque in its many guises ... it is scholarly, diverting and fascinating, all at once: a bracing draught that genuinely fills a huge void, an essential read to understand a period in all its diversity. * James Stevens Curl, Times Higher Eucation * Learned and thought-provoking ... Stevenson has encyclopaedic knowledge of the period and the style, in all its many forms. The book covers a glorious array of cultural activities ... Stevenson writes with gentle humour and a keen sense of the absurd. * Adrian Tinniswood, Literary Review * Baroque Between the Wars draws its strength from Stevenson's omnivorous sourcing of material and her intellectual curiosity. * Tanya Harrod, Apollo * exceptional * Clive Aslet, Country Life * A fascinating, thought-provoking account of the arts in the 1920s and 1930s * The Tablet * One of this book's greatest strengths is the author's original research across several disciplines ... [Stevenson] writes in clear, insightful prose ... This is essential reading that will, inter alia, explain you to yourself. * Ruth Guilding, The World of Interiors * The book is welcome for its extensive examination of one of the most interesting moments in art and life of recent times. * David Platzer, The British Art Journal * extraordinary ... Stevenson writes with admirable clarity and wit * Altair Brandon-Salmon, Cherwell * The first thing to be said about this wonderfully funny, provocative, and endlessly fascinating book is that it covers a lot of ground. It presents a very large range of creative production through a series of short and eminently readable chapters. * Timothy Brittain-Catlin, Journal of Architecture * Broad in scope, yet full of telling detail, this important study of the Baroque sensibility brilliantly illuminates a too-long-neglected era of artistic and cultural activity. * Stephen Calloway, author of Baroque Baroque: The Culture of Excess * Stevenson's achievement is baroque in its richness and variety. Spanning the art forms, and bringing to new prominence the period's decorative taste-makers from Cecil Beaton to Elsa Schiaparelli, she turns a serious eye on the meanings of masquerade. The emphasis on art markets and circles of patronage contributes a wealth of new material to this thick-woven tapestry of ideas. * Alexandra Harris, Department of English Literature, University of Birmingham * With the scholarship, humanity, and wit that made her Edward Burra biography so outstanding, Jane Stevenson presents a shimmering bouquet of connected essays, animating the ghosts of early twentieth-century fashion and frolic, that propose a serious alternative to modernism. * Alan Powers *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
37 black and white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
669 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-880877-0 (9780198808770)
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
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2021
Oxford University Press
€31.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Jane Stevenson was born in 1959 and mostly brought up in London. She studied at the University of Cambridge, and subsequently taught at the Universities of Sheffield and Warwick before moving to Aberdeen, where she was Regius Professor of Humanity. Jane Stevenson is now Senior Research Fellow at Campion Hall at the University of Oxford. Her works include studies of women's writing in Latin, early modern women poets, a biography of the painter Edward Burra, and six novels.
Content
I: SOCIETY; II: THE CITY; III: ROOMS; IV: UNCANONICAL ARTS