Based on his dissertation for the University of Delaware, Antliff (art history, U. of Alberta) explores the role of anarchism in the American art scene during the World War I era. He argues that anarchism was the formative force leading coherence and direction to modernism in the US between 1908 and 1920. In contrast to the affinity thesis, he assumes that an artists anarchism could unfold entirely in an artistic context, as a mode of personal liberation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) The relationship of the anarchist movement to American art during the World War I era is most often described as a tenuous affinity between two distinct spheres: political and artistic. In Anarchist Modernism—the first in-depth exploration of the role of anarchism in the formation of early American modernism—Allan Antliff reveals that modernists participated in a wide-ranging movement that encompassed lifestyles, literature, and art, as well as politics. Drawing on a wealth of hitherto unknown information, including interviews and reproductions of lost works, he examines anarchisms influence on a telling cross-section of artists such as Robert Henri, Elie Nadelman, Man Ray, and Rockwell Kent. He also traces the interactions between cultural figures and thinkers including Emma Goldman, Alfred Stieglitz, Ezra Pound, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.By situating American arts evolution in the progressive politics of the time, Antliff offers a richly illustrated chronicle of the anarchist movement and also revives the creative agency of those who shaped and implemented modernism for radical ends. The relationship of the anarchist movement to American art during the World War I era is most often described as a tenuous affinity between two distinct spheres: political and artistic. In Anarchist Modernism--the first in-depth exploration of the role of anarchism in the formation of early American modernism--Allan Antliff reveals that modernists participated in a wide-ranging movement that encompassed lifestyles, literature, and art, as well as politics. Drawing on a wealth of hitherto unknown information, including interviews and reproductions of lost works, he examines anarchisms influence on a telling cross-section of artists such as Robert Henri, Elie Nadelman, Man Ray, and Rockwell Kent. He also traces the interactions between cultural figures and thinkers including Emma Goldman, Alfred Stieglitz, Ezra Pound, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.By situating American arts evolution in the progressive politics of the time, Antliff offers a richly illustrated chronicle of the anarchist movement and also revives the creative agency of those who shaped and implemented modernism for radical ends.
