Ideologies of Pure Abstraction

Description

This dissertation presents a history of the development of abstract art in the 1920s and 1930s, the period of its expansion and consolidation as an identifiable movement and practice of art. I argue that the emergence of the category of abstract art in the 1920s is grounded in a voluntaristic impulse to remake the world. I argue that the consolidation of abstract art as a movement emerged out of the Parisian reception of a new Soviet art practice that contained a political impetus that was subsequently obscured as this moment passed. The occultation of this historical context laid the groundwork for the postwar “multiplication” of the meanings of abstraction, and the later tendency to associate its early programmatic aspirations with a more apolitical mysticism. List of Figures ii List of Abbreviations v Acknowledgements vi Introduction 1 Chapter One. Abstract, abstraction, and other terms 6 Chapter Two. The “Soviet Effect”: L’Exposition internationale 21 des arts décoratifs et industriels modernes Chapter Three. The Neoplasticist Moment: L’Art d’Aujourd’hui, 54 Mondrian, and Paris Chapter Four. From Pure to Figural Abstraction: Jean Hélion 86 Conclusion 124 Illustrations 129 Select Bibliography 165