The Twentieth Century
Modern art in Croatia began with the secessionist ideas spreading from Vienna and Munich, and post-impressionism from Paris. The Munich Circle used values to create volume in their paintings, in a style much simplified from more detailed earlier, academic style. The Medulic Society of sculptors and painters from Split brought themes of national history and legends to their art, and some of the artwork following the First World War contained a strong political message against the ruling Austro-Hungarian state. The Zagreb Spring Salon provided an annual showcase of the local art scene, and a big change was noticeable in 1919 with a move to flatter forms, and signs of cubism and expressionism were evident. The avante-garde Zenit Group of the 1920s pushed for integrating the new art forms with the native cultural identity. At the same time, the Earth Group sought to reflect reality and social issues in their art, a movement that also saw the development of naive art. The 1930s saw a return to more simple, classical styles.
Following the Second World War, artists everywhere were searching for meaning and identity, leading to abstract expressionism in the U.S. and art informel in Europe. In the new Yugoslavia, the communist social realism style never took hold, but Exat 51 showed the way with geometric abstraction in paintings and simplified spaces in architecture. The Gorgona Group of the 1960s advocated non-conventional forms of visual expression, published their own anti-magazine, and were preoccupied by the absurd. At the same time, the New Tendencies series of exhibits held in conjunction with meetings displayed a more analytical approach to art, and a move towards New Media, such as photography, video, computer art, performance art and installations, focused more on the artists' process. The Biafra Group of the 1970s was figurative and expressionist, engaging their audience directly. By the 1980s, the New Image movement brought a return to more traditional painting and images.
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Famous quotes containing the words twentieth century and/or twentieth:
“The phenomenon of nature is more splendid than the daily events of nature, certainly, so then the twentieth century is splendid.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)
“In the middle of the next century, when the literary establishment will reflect the multicultural makeup of this country and not be dominated by assimiliationists with similar tastes, from similar backgrounds, and of similar pretensions, Langston Hughes will be to the twentieth century what Walt Whitman was to the nineteenth.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)