From the Modern to the Postmodern and beyond: Art of the Later 20th Century
    
       
  The Art World's Focus Shifts West :: Postwar Expressionism in Europe :: Modernist Formalism :: Alternatives to Modernist Formalism :: Art for the Public :: New Models for Architecture: Modernism to Postmodernism :: Postmodernism In Painting, Sculpture, And New Media :: Into The 21st Century  
       
       
  POSTWAR EXPRESSIONISM IN EUROPE

World War II resulted in a pervasive sense of despair, disillusionment, and skepticism.

Existentialism: The absurdity of human existence

The philosophy of existentialism, which asserted the absurdity of human existence and the impossibility of achieving certitude, reflected the cynicism of the period. The spirit of pessimism and despair emerged frequently in the European art.

An indictment of humanity:

Francis Bacon's Painting can be read as an indictment of humanity and a reflection of war's butchery.

34-1: FRANCIS BACON, Painting, 1946. Oil and pastel on linen, 6' 5 7/8" x 4' 4". Museum of Modern Art, New York (purchase).
  1. Painting
  2. Painting
  3. Painting
  4. Painting
Scraped and smeared canvases:

In Vie Inquiète, or Uneasy Life, Jean Dubuffet presents crudely scrawled or scribbled images painted or incised on a thickly encrusted surface of plaster, glue, sand, asphalt, or other common materials.

34-2: JEAN DUBUFFET, Vie Inquiète, 1953. Oil on canvas, approx. 4' 3" x 6' 4". Tate Gallery, London.
  1. JEAN DUBUFFET
  2. Another DUBUFFET Painting
  3. Another DUBUFFET Painting
  4. Another DUBUFFET Painting
Lost in the world's immensity:

Alberto Giacometti's sculpture Man Pointing is a thin, severely attenuated figure with rough, agitated surfaces. The figure imparts a sense of isolation and fragility.

34-3: ALBERTO GIACOMETTI, Man Pointing, 1947. Bronze no. 5 of 6, 5' 10" x 3' 1' 5 5/8". Nathan Emory Coffin Collection of the Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines. (Purchased with funds from the Coffin Fine Arts Trust.)
  1. Man Pointing
  2. Man Pointing
  3. Man Pointing
  4. Man Pointing
  5. Man Pointing
    
       
  The Art World's Focus Shifts West :: Postwar Expressionism in Europe :: Modernist Formalism :: Alternatives to Modernist Formalism :: Art for the Public :: New Models for Architecture: Modernism to Postmodernism :: Postmodernism In Painting, Sculpture, And New Media :: Into The 21st Century