Synopses & Reviews
In this fascinating and generously illustrated book, Romy Golan explores mural and mural-like works in Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s, beginning with Monetand#8217;s installation of the Nymphand#233;as at the Musand#233;e de land#8217;Orangerie in Paris, and ending dramatically with Le Corbusierand#8217;s huge tapestries in Chandigarh, India.
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Many artists and critics looked to the mural as a corrective to the ills of painterly Modernism: the disruption of the pictorial field at the hands of Cubism and other avant-garde practices; the commodification of painting through the market for easel paintings; and more generally the alienation of man and the anomie of art in the modern condition.
and#160;At the same time it was clear that a return to the mural format would never be more than an anachronistic and futile gesture. This book is therefore about mural paintings that are not convinced they belong on walls: and#160;such strange objects as mosaics designed to be disassembled; paintings that resemble large-scale photographs, or photomurals; and tapestries that functioned as portable woolen walls. and#160;The author argues that the uncertain relation of these objects to the wall is symptomatic of the dilemmas that troubled European art, artists, and architects during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
Synopsis
Frequently political and part of a concerted effort by artists and patrons during the early decades of the 20th century to address a broad public, murals and large mural-like works often had a greater visibility and larger audience than paintings that are acknowledged today as masterpieces. Large and monumental, and made in many different media, they were also often ephemeral: their lifespan typically ended with the closing of an exhibition. In this fascinating book, Romy Golan explores murals and mural-like works in Europe from the end of the First World War to the late 1950s, beginning with Monet's work on the Nympheas installation in the Musee de l'Orangerie and ending dramatically with Le Corbusier's huge tapestries in Chandigarh, India. Along the way, she charts the work of Leger, Le Corbusier, Sironi, Pagano, Picasso, and others, and makes a convincing and elegant case for the important position mural art, and critical debates on monumental public painting, occupied in this period.
Synopsis
In this fascinating and generously illustrated book, Romy Golan explores mural and mural-like works in Europe from the 1920s to the 1950s, beginning with Monet's installation of the Nympheas at the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris, and ending dramatically with Le Corbusier's huge tapestries in Chandigarh, India.
Many artists and critics looked to the mural as a corrective to the ills of painterly Modernism: the disruption of the pictorial field at the hands of Cubism and other avant-garde practices; the commodification of painting through the market for easel paintings; and more generally the alienation of man and the anomie of art in the modern condition.
At the same time it was clear that a return to the mural format would never be more than an anachronistic and futile gesture. This book is therefore about mural paintings that are not convinced they belong on walls: such strange objects as mosaics designed to be disassembled; paintings that resemble large-scale photographs, or photomurals; and tapestries that functioned as portable woolen walls. The author argues that the uncertain relation of these objects to the wall is symptomatic of the dilemmas that troubled European art, artists, and architects during the middle decades of the twentieth century.
About the Author
Romy Golan is professor of twentieth-century art at the Graduate Center and Lehman College, The City University of New York.