Prehistoric Pictures and American Modernism

In April 1937, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted an exhibition that served as a catalyst for the appropriation of prehistoric rock art in postwar abstract painting. With the title "Prehistoric Rock Pictures in Europe and Africa", it displayed a range of copies from the influential collection of the German ethnologist Leo Frobenius.Largely disregarded in modern American art history up until now, this book highlights the importance of this exhibition to artists such as Josef Albers, Adolph Gottlieb, David Smith, and The American Abstract Artists group, who sought inspiration from the prehistoric images'' primordial creativity. With a transnational scope, this book reveals new facts about the connections between Paris and New York, and the importance of communication and collaboration between them for these artists. In doing so, Seibert shows that this debate was about more than just legitimizing abstract art forms from the past, but about recognizing an autonomous American abstract art.Presenting unseen archival material, letters, and exhibition documentation, P istoric Pictures and American Modernism offers a new reading of the development of modern American abstraction, and will hold an important place in the historiography of the movement, its global traditions, and its legacy.>

Préface
Illuminates an, until now, disregarded aspect of American art history: the influence of prehistoric rock paintings exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art from April 28 to May 30, 1937 on the New York art scene.

Auteur

Elke Seibert is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Cultural Department Canton Nidwalden, Switzerland, specialising in the interdisciplinary study of reception processes in contemporary and fine art from the 18th to the 20th century.

Contenu
Part One: Introduction 1 Preface 2 Prehistory as a Modern Idea in Europe and Primitivism as intertwined concepts (19001940) Part Two: Prehistoric Artifacts, Prints, Painted Copies and the Genesis of Modern Art in New York (1937) 3 Alfred Barr's View of Prehistory and Modernism as Shown at MoMA 4 Barr`s exhibition concept: Prehistoric Avant-Garde and Lala Eve Rivol's Federal Art Project 5 Leo Frobenius's Objectives, His Collection in Western debatesand Henry Moore 6 The Making of the MoMA Exhibition Prehistoric Rock Pictures in Europe and Africa (28 April30 May, 1937) Part Three: The Art of Copying the Pastin Transatlantic Dialogue 7 Copies and Copyists: Pictorial Heritage at the Museum of Modern Art 8 Copying for the Index of American Design (193542) Part Four: Modern American Abstract Art and their Re-appropriation of Prehistoric Rock Paintings 9 The Founding of the American Abstract Artists (1936) and their Appropriation of Prehistoric Rock Paintings (193740) 10 Bridging Time and Space:Transcontinental AAA Networks in the Interwar Period 11 The Influence of (prehistoric) Artistic Concepts from Mexico on the American Abstract Artists 12 Prehistorical Modernists: Gottlieb, Lassaw, Schanker, Smith Part Five: Conclusion 13 The Modernity of Prehistory in the Thirties in Paris and New York Appendix I and II Bibliography Index