Inventing Bergson: Cultural Politics and the Parisian Avant-Garde - Hardcover

Antliff, Mark

4.33

6 ratings by Goodreads

9780691032023: Inventing Bergson: Cultural Politics and the Parisian Avant-Garde

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691032025 ISBN 13: 9780691032023

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 1993

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At the turn of the century the philosophy of Henri Bergson captivated France, and Bergson's theories of intuition and �lan vital influenced artistic and political notions of the supreme individual, the collective consciousness of a class or race, and the esprit of the nation itself. Here Mark Antliff demonstrates how various artists in prewar France positioned themselves and their art in this plurality of political discourse. By interrelating such movements as Futurism, Cubism, and Fauvism, he elucidates the pervasive impact of Bergson on Modernism in Europe, especially in terms of theories of organic form.

Antliff defines the anarcho-individualism of Gino Severini as it relates to the anarcho-syndicalism of other Futurists, and contrasts both to the Puteaux Cubists, who embraced a leftist discourse of Celtic nationalism. All these groups, including the "Rhythmists," an international group of Fauve painters, defined their Bergsonism in reaction to the campaign against Bergson launched by the royalist organization L'Action Fran�aise. Antliff shows that the organicism central to the Bergsonism of these leftist groups had a postwar legacy in fascist ideologies in France and Italy, and charts the transformation of an anticapitalist critique into the politics of reaction. Thus Antliff relates the Bergsonism of these movements to the larger political culture confronted by the Parisian avant-garde, exposing the volatile relation of art and culture to ideology in prewar France.

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Review:

"The book ... manages to be specific and broad-ranging at the same time, providing valuable information on particular groups [the Puteaux Cubists, the Celtic League, the groups surrounding the journals Rhythmand Action d'art whilst also participating in a discussion that has implications for our understanding of the pre-World War I milieu as a whole."--Art History

Synopsis:

This study describes how the philosophy of Henri Bergson captivated France, influenced artists and thinkers, and had a direct impact on such cultural and artistic movements as futurism, cubism and Fauvism, particularly in terms of the theories of organic form.

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