The period from 1851 to 1929 witnessed the rise of the foremost European avant-garde groups: the Realists, Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, Symbolists, Cubists, and Surrealists. It was also a time of rapid social, economic, and political change, including a revolution in communication systems and technology, and an unprecedented development in the availability of printed images.

Richard Brettell explores innovatively the goals and achievements — the beautiful and the strange — of artists like Monet, Gauguin, Picasso, and Dali, in relation to urban capitalism and expansion, colonization, nationalism and internationalism, as well as the museum. By tracking common thematic axes of representation, imagination, perception, and sexuality through works of various media, he presents a new approach to the visual art and photography of this unforgettable era.

Pages: 272, Dimensions: 16.8x16.8cm