British Art and the First World War, 1914–1924

Overturning decades of scholarly orthodoxies, James Fox makes a bold new argument about the First World War's cultural consequences.

James Fox (Author)

9781107513716, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 February 2019

257 pages, 23 b/w illus. 11 colour illus.
24.7 x 18.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.74 kg

'Fox provides a detailed, elegant account of the art world at war and emphasizes that the conflict's reach was far more encompassing and engaging than the current proliferation of commemorative activities might indicate.' Ross Wilson, The Journal of Modern History

The First World War is usually believed to have had a catastrophic effect on British art, killing artists and movements, and creating a mood of belligerent philistinism around the nation. In this book, however, James Fox paints a very different picture of artistic life in wartime Britain. Drawing on a wide range of sources, he examines the cultural activities of largely forgotten individuals and institutions, as well as the press and the government, in order to shed new light on art's unusual role in a nation at war. He argues that the conflict's artistic consequences, though initially disruptive, were ultimately and enduringly productive. He reveals how the war effort helped forge a much closer relationship between the British public and their art - a relationship that informed the country's cultural agenda well into the 1920s.

Introduction
1. The outbreak of war and the business of art
2. Perceptions of art
3. The arts mobilize
4. War pictures: truth, fiction, function
5. Peace pictures: escapism, consolation, catharsis
6. Art and society after the war
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1], History of art & design styles: from c 1900 - [ACX]