Dance
Historically, modern dance scholarship has followed the contours of the field as defined by John Martin, the revered dance critic for The New York Times,…
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Ausdruckstanz (1910–1950)
The term Ausdruckstanz became common usage after World War II to designate a widespread dance practice in the early and middle decades of the 20th…
Monte Verità (1900–)
During the first two decades of the 20th century, Monte Verità, a hill on the west side of Ascona in southern Switzerland, was the site…
Schwitters, Kurt (1887–1948)
Kurt Schwitters is most commonly associated with Dada, but his relationship to that movement’s aesthetic, political, and philosophical rebellion was ambivalent. Although he was friends…
Döblin, (Bruno) Alfred (1878-1957)
Alfred Döblin’s contributions to modern literature consist primarily of his montage style, epic narrative structures and critical eye toward contemporary culture. His masterpiece Berlin Alexanderplatz.…
Vigo, Abraham (1893–1957)
Abraham Regino Vigo was one of the most talent artists of the first avant-garde in Buenos Aires. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, but at…
Kokoschka, Oskar (1886–1980)
The Austrian painter, graphic artist, writer, and playwright Oskar Kokoschka received distinction as a protégé while still studying at the Viennese School of Applied Arts.…
Der Sturm
Der Sturm (Storm) was the fulcrum of the international avant-garde in Berlin from 1910 to 1932. Herwarth Walden (born Georg Levin, 1878–1941) founded the journal…
Ruiz, Antonio (1897–1964)
Antonio Ruiz, also known as El Corzo or El Corcito after a famous Spanish bullfighter, was primarily an easel painter from the 1920s to the…
Werefkin, Marianne (1960–1937)
Werefkin was born into an aristocratic family and herself a baroness. Her mother, Elizabeth Daragan, was an artist; her father, an army general decorated by…
Vitalism
Vitalism is a philosophy of life that ascribes a vital principle or animating life-force to the processes of living organisms. Against the assertions of mechanistic…
Theosophy
The term ‘theosophy’, derived from the Greek theo (‘divine’) and sophia (‘wisdom’), refers generally to divine wisdom and its mystical interpretation. Arising in the third…
White Savages Group
The White Savages Group (Baek-man Heo) was founded in 1930 when Kim Yong-jun (1904–1967) published his manifesto “Upon Founding the White Savages Group” in a…
Kristensen, (Aage) Tom (1893–1974)
Tom Kristensen was the most influential exponent of Expressionism in 1920s Denmark. During this period he wrote both poetry and novels that gave voice to…
Werfel, Franz (1890–1945) [REVISED AND EXPANDED]
Franz Viktor Werfel was a Jewish-born Austrian novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, and translator best known in the Anglophone world for his works of historical fiction,…
Kulbak, Moyshe (1896–1937)
Moyshe Kulbak was a leading Yiddish modernist poet, novelist, and playwright. Born in Smorgon near Vilna, he received a traditional religious education. His youthful works…
Schiele, Egon (1890–1918)
Egon Schiele is one of the most original artists of the early 20th century and a major figure associated with the stylistic movement, Expressionism. He…
Ward, Lynd (1905–1985)
Lynd Kendall Ward was an American artist best known for the six novels in woodcuts he created between 1929–37, though he was also an accomplished…
Woodcut Novel
The novel in woodcuts or the wordless novel is an artistic and narrative medium that emerged during the first half of the 20th century. The…
Palucca, Gret (1902–1993)
Gret Palucca took a distinctive improvisational and pedagogical approach to German modern dance in a career spanning four different political systems in Germany. After studying…
Al Said, Shakir Hassan (1925–2004)
Al Said was a prolific and influential artist. He was a founding member of the Baghdad Group for Modern Art (Jama’at Baghdad lil-fann al-hadith) in…
O’Casey, Sean (1880–1964)
Born into Dublin tenement life in 1880, Sean O’Casey (originally John O’Casey) went on to become one of Ireland’s most important playwrights, best known for…
Lasker-Schüler, Else (1868–1945)
Else Lasker-Schüler can be regarded as the most important German female modernist and is one of the few women affiliated with the Expressionist movement. Her…
Mendelsohn, Erich (1887–1953)
Erich Mendelsohn was born on March 21, 1887, in Allenstein, East Prussia. He gained his architectural education at the technical universities in Charlottenburg and Munich…
Ku Ponung (구본웅, 具本雄) (1906–1953)
Ku Ponung was a modern artist and critic active during the Japanese colonial period and the Korean War. Due to his spine curvature and eccentric…