Constructivism in Central Europe : : painting, typography, photomontage / / by Esther Levinger.

• Superior document: Early Modern History and Modern History E-Books Online, Collection 2022
• VerfasserIn: Levinger, Esther,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, The Netherlands ;, Boston : : Brill,, [2022]; ©2022
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Early Modern History and Modern History E-Books Online, Collection 2022.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (382 pages)
• Notes: The book tells the story of individual artists in Central Europe who believed in art's power to change the world; they imagined a collective of human beings living happily in a free society liberated of injustice and inequality.
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; Copyright page /; Illustrations /; Abbreviations /; Introduction /; Chapter 1 Theory and Practice of Constructivism in Central Europe /; Chapter 2 Constructivist Visions of Totality and Happiness /; Chapter 3 Unism: Subject and Object / Space and Time /; Chapter 4 Poetism: A Marriage of Opposites /; Conclusion: Images of a Future International /; Appendix 1: Lajos Kassák, “On the New Art” /; Appendix 2: Lajos Kassák, “On Constructivism” /; Appendix 3: Władysław Strzemiński, “Aspects of Reality” /; Appendix 4: Karl Teige, “Poem, World, Man” /; Bibliography /; Index /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9789004506374
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: by Esther Levinger.

The book is a comparative study of the constructivist avant-garde artists in Central Europe, the Hungarian MA group in exile in Vienna, the Blok group in Warsaw, and the Czech Devětsil association of artists in Prague. The author examines the similarities and significant differences among them. Contrary to often-repeated theses, the study reveals that the artists unremittingly sought new formulations for an initial set of formal and theoretical issues. It also demonstrates that they persistently believed that their works of art prefigured a future socialist society. The long-awaited socialist states that came into being after World War II betrayed the artists.