Folklore & Avantgarde : The Reception of Popular Traditions in the Age of Modernism

A handsome book examining in depth the influence of folkloric traditions on the pioneers of Modernism in the development of their new artistic language

Towards the end of the nineteenth century many artists and architects found inspiration in local folk art. Private collectors, museums and artists began to collect and exhibit it. The enthusiasm for traditional craft techniques increased as a result of the threat posed by the rise of industrialisation.

The focus in this volume lies on the reception of African, folk and peasant art and textile handicrafts. The phenomenon is discussed by international authors and is demonstrated by means of 350 illustrations

Craft objects and folk art are contrasted with masterpieces by artists of the avant-garde like Josef Albers, Sonia Delaunay, Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Pablo Picasso, Charles Sheeler and Sophie Taeuber-Arp. A century after the emergence of Modernism in Europe and America, this standard work aims at a new assessment of the period.