New Histories of Art in the Global Postwar Era: Multiple Modernisms(Studies in Art Historiography)

This book maps key moments in the history of postwar art from a global perspective. The reader is introduced to a new globally oriented approach to art, artists, museums and movements of the postwar era (1945–70). Specifically, this book bridges the gap between historical artistic centers, such as Paris and New York, and peripheral loci. Through case studies, previously unknown networks, circulations, divides and controversies are brought to light. From the development of Ethiopian modernism, to the showcase of Brazilian modernity, this book provides readers with a new set of coordinates and a reassessment of well-trodden art historical narratives around modernism. This book will be of interest to scholars in art historiography, art history, exhibition and curatorial studies, modern art and globalization.

Table of Contents:
Introduction. Towards a New Understanding of Globalism in Postwar Art Flavia Frigeri and Kristian Handberg 1. Prologue: Art History’s Work-in Pro(re)gress: Reflections on the Multiple Modernities Project Terry Smith PART 1 Crossings and Encounters: Retracing Artists’ Itineraries 2. Expression for All: Ferlov, Mancoba, Tajiri and the Art of Cobra Karen Kurczynski 3. Origins and Brinks: Multiple Modernisms in Postwar London Giulia Smith 4. Multiple Resistances to the Concept of Modernism: The Emergence of Artistic-Poetic Networks between Eastern Europe and Latin America in the late 1960s and 1970s. Katarzyna Cytlak 5. Urban Folklore: Marta Minujín's Postwar Assemblage and the Modern City Elize Mazadiego 6. Yayoi Kusama as a Migrant Artist: An Artistic Trajectory as a Model for the Understanding of Postwar Art Marie Laurberg 7. The Overworked Ground: Franz Erhard Walther in New York Stephanie Straine PART 2 Against the Norm: Decentering and Resisting the Canon 8. Blinded by Mao: The Challenge of Seeing Modernism in Art of the People’s Republic Karen Stock 9. "Iranian Modernism" and the Idea of Indigenous Art: Translations, Adoptions and (mis)interpretations Combiz Moussavi-Aghdam 10. Camouflaged Dissent – A Plastic Umbrella and Transparent Balloons: "Happenings" in South Korea, 1967–1968 Sooran Choi 11. A Postcard from Addis: Ethiopian Modernism(s) in the World Kate Cowcher 12. The Cultural Politics of Négritude and the Debates around the Brazilian Participation in the First World Festival of Negro Arts (Dakar, 1966) Sabrina Moura 13. An Index of Modernity: Feminist Furniture by Teresa Burga and Beatriz González Sofia Gotti PART 3 Collecting Modernisms – Exhibiting Modernisms 14. Traveler’s Tales: Alfred Barr, the Soviet Union and International Modernism in the Postwar Period Masha Chlenova 15. Displaying Whose Modernity? The Bardis and the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo Camila Maroja 16. Cosmonaut Paintings as Contemporary Art: The Soviet Union at the Venice Biennale, 1956–1968 Kristian Handberg 17. All that Jazz: Rome’s Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna and the Rise of Abstraction in Postwar Italy Flavia Frigeri

About the Author :
Flavia Frigeri is an Art Historian and Curator. She is currently Curator for Missing Narratives on Women at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Kristian Handberg is an Art Historian. He is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen.