Product Description

Portrays the cultural bohemia of turn-of-the-century Paris who carried the arts into a period of renewal and accomplishment, who laid the ground-work for Dadaism and Surrealism.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2330576 in Books
• Published on: 1968-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 397 pages

From the Publisher
"A sweeping portrait of an era." --Justin O' Brien

"...a fascinating and often brilliant account..."--Alfred Kazin

"...I am full of admiration for a book which searches very deeply into the social and philosophic foundations of modern art, and presents a theory that is at once comprehensive and convincing."--Herbert Read, The London Magazine

From the Inside Flap
Portrays the cultural bohemia of turn-of-the-century Paris who carried the arts into a period of renewal and accomplishment, who laid the ground-work for Dadaism and Surrealism.

Customer Reviews

The Life of the Absurd...
Around the turn of the last century there was an unsettled fringe to "Art". There was the mainstream - formal just-so predictable and safe. The framework and structure of being an artist was beginning to fray however - the idea that "Art" should continue to evolve into something else to grow beyond the rigid box that artists and society were so comfortable with.

It is hard to put into words exactly what these four artists attempted to do to their perspective fields, painting, music and writing - they strove to both make "Art" plastic (malleable) and new - to create "Art" beyond "Art" as it were. Even the knowledgeable at the time struggled to define as they themselves exactly what they were doing...

But from primitivism in art to ubu to monotonal music to surrealism to painted neckties, these artists redefined the role of artist to their art. It would be easier to say that Satie or especially Jarry were art themselves their very state of being being "Art". Art as life or life as art or a witch's brew of the two blurred the line between being and performance (Truman Capote, Andy Warhol would have fit right into these guys as well as Timothy Leary and his LSD visionaries).

Cubism and Dadaism - modern art as we understand it today - owes a great debt to these men. Destitute, literally either one step from starvation or madness (or both), their vision of their "Art" and their willingness to bear the cost of bring that "Art" out (there were riots at performances of Satie and Jarry, Apollinaire was jailed and Rousseau was delittled)paved the way for Picasso and Dali.

This book is not a particularly easy read, it wanders between the dryness of a college textbook and an almost lyrical prose at times. And the author seems to expect some knowledge of art and the period from the beginning, a little more background would have been helpful. But I learned a lot for the effort so I would recommend the book to the interested student of the period.

Essential Life Style Guide
I first came across this book when assigned it in college, and I return to it every few years. I found this a bracing book when I first read it and still to this day. Anyone who thinks Andy Kaufman was the first person to cross the line of performance art into life should read the section on Alfred Jarry. Indeed at a certain point Jarry became irretrievably blurred with his creation Pere Ubu (whom he took to "impersonating" in real life to an extent that must have been quite a trial to his friends). Yet there is something very moving and affirming about the often tragic story presented here. Jarry lived in a half sized room and became a chronic drunk yet he retained an impeccable dignity despite feeling trapped in a savage and absurd world. His last words were for a request for a toothpick. Jarry returned the insult of life with perfect poise.

The other portraits are equally incisive, the Satie portrait particulary haunting (its hard to listen to his music without thinking of the tiny room he lived in and never let another sole visit during his lifetime).

Shattuck gives the historical background that gives you fascinating insight into the social/cultural conditions behind the emergence of what have to be considered highly idiosyncratic artists.

For anyone with bohemian inclinations or posturings this book is essential, perhaps making your own little room shine with a little solidarity for those who have trod before you...

strong insights into avant garde art
I was worried at first, the first few pages read like an episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich And Famous" in its juicy overview of late 19th century. But then he started talking about avant garde art, and it became an astute exploration of the reasons behind avant garde art, how it works, and why it is valid.

I was looking for some info on Erik Satie and came away very satisfied.