Description

At the beginning of the twentieth century, two avant-garde movements emerged that sought to change the world: Expressionism and Constructivism. Utopia 1900-1940 documents the two schools and the work they produced. The leaders of these movements--Franz Marc, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, Theo van Doesburg and others--believed they were standing at the threshold of a new era, and they sought to shape its reality in a radical way. Together they forged the utopian ideal of A New Man in a New Society--a total concept that encompassed art, design and architecture, from paintings to skyscrapers. And yet, philosophically and aesthetically, the two movements were diametrically opposed. For the Expressionists, individual freedom was paramount; for the Constructivists, the individual was part of a larger whole. This amply illustrated volume explores the philosophical, aesthetical and political currents that informed these movements, and the tensions between them.