Early Modernism: Literature, Music, and Painting in Europe, 1900-1916

by Christopher Butler

Early Modernism is a uniquely integrated introduction to the great avant-garde movements in European literature, music, and painting at the beginning of this century, from the advent of Fauvism to the development of Dada.

In contrast to the overly literary focus of previous studies of modernism, this book highlights the interaction between the arts in this period. It traces the fundamental and interlinked re-examination of the languages of the arts brought about by Matisse, Picasso, Schoenberg, Eliot, Apollinaire, Marinetti, Ben, and many others, which led to radically new techniques, such as atonality, cubism, and collage. These changes are set in the context both of the art that preceded them and of a new and profound shift in ideas. Theories of the unconscious, the association of ideas, primitivism, and reliance upon an expressionist intuition led to a reshaped conception of personal identity, and Butler examines the representation of the modernist self in the work of figures including Mann, Joyce, Conrad, and Stravinsky.

Accessible and wide-ranging, the book is lavishly illustrated with over sixty illustrations, many in color. It provides an elegant and incisive guide to a momentous period in the history of European art.

Genres: Nonfiction, Music, European History, History, Research

344 pages, Paperback

First published June 30, 1994

About the author

Christopher Butler was Professor of English Literature at Oxford University.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I found the first two chapters (90 pages) fascinating, the rest repetitive and academic

[Libby Shirnia · Rating 1 out of 5]

i’m so sorry to whom i may offend, but i couldn’t do this. i think for me the only thing more tedious than art is the history of art and maybe that makes me an uncultured swine or maybe it means i’m not a virgin xx

[Jonathan Frederick Walz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the interdisciplinary approach of this treatment, as well as the limiting of the discussion to 1900–1916. I didn't think anyone could say much of interest about this overall topic, but this model proved useful to my thinking.

[Karen Carlson]

rec by @HeyJudeNotJudy Jun 18 2022 Replying to @five_books weekend thread

[Esteban del Mal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Academic, but invaluable if you have any interest in the subject.