Constructivist art in Britain, 1913-2005
Constructivist art in Britain, 1913-2005
This thesis provides the first full account of those 20th century British artists and art groups who saw themselves, or were described by contemporary commentators, as having a Constructivist identity. Four main groups from the core of this account: Circle in the late 1930s, the Constructionists and the London branch of Groupe Espace in the 1950s, and the Systems group in the 1970s. Links are identified between these groups and between them and Constructivist artists in Europe; and the account includes references to artists outside these groups who worked (and are still working in 2005) in a Constructivist mode.
Drawn from the ideas of Kandinsky before the First World War, from Russian Constructivism, and from the inter-war De Stijl group and the Bauhaus, the characteristics of Constructivist art are defined in terms of non-mimetic and non-illusionistic abstraction, rationality of purpose and process, the construction of the art object from constituent geometric and mathematical elements, a concept of Constructivist art contributing to the creation of a better society, and the aim of a synthesis of painting, sculpture and architecture.
The account is set within the context of a transition of approach from an original idealistic and outward-looking philosophy of a new art for a new society, to a more introverted focus on the internal logic of the constructed art object. This transition is explained as being related to the changing policy, social, economic and cultural environment of the times. In essence, it is argued that the abandonment of social idealism after the 1950s resulted from a reaction to Cold War fares and antagonisms, the growth of consumerism and the market economy, the dominating impact of American art in the 1960s and 70s, and the sensationalism and references popular culture of most post-modern developments in art.
University of Southampton
Fowler, Alan
d9b28fc0-7fe6-4e6c-8648-ee7487dc1524
2006
Fowler, Alan
d9b28fc0-7fe6-4e6c-8648-ee7487dc1524
Fowler, Alan
(2006)
Constructivist art in Britain, 1913-2005.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
This thesis provides the first full account of those 20th century British artists and art groups who saw themselves, or were described by contemporary commentators, as having a Constructivist identity. Four main groups from the core of this account: Circle in the late 1930s, the Constructionists and the London branch of Groupe Espace in the 1950s, and the Systems group in the 1970s. Links are identified between these groups and between them and Constructivist artists in Europe; and the account includes references to artists outside these groups who worked (and are still working in 2005) in a Constructivist mode.
Drawn from the ideas of Kandinsky before the First World War, from Russian Constructivism, and from the inter-war De Stijl group and the Bauhaus, the characteristics of Constructivist art are defined in terms of non-mimetic and non-illusionistic abstraction, rationality of purpose and process, the construction of the art object from constituent geometric and mathematical elements, a concept of Constructivist art contributing to the creation of a better society, and the aim of a synthesis of painting, sculpture and architecture.
The account is set within the context of a transition of approach from an original idealistic and outward-looking philosophy of a new art for a new society, to a more introverted focus on the internal logic of the constructed art object. This transition is explained as being related to the changing policy, social, economic and cultural environment of the times. In essence, it is argued that the abandonment of social idealism after the 1950s resulted from a reaction to Cold War fares and antagonisms, the growth of consumerism and the market economy, the dominating impact of American art in the 1960s and 70s, and the sensationalism and references popular culture of most post-modern developments in art.
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Published date: 2006
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Local EPrints ID: 465988
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465988
PURE UUID: 5d43b634-a3fa-4a5a-acfa-ca491918500d
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 03:54
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:27
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Author:
Alan Fowler
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