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20th-century French art developed out of the Impressionism and Post-Impressionism that dominated French art at the end of the 19th century. The first half of the 20th century in France saw the even more revolutionary experiments of Cubism, Dada and Surrealism, artistic movements that would have a major impact on western, and eventually world, art. After World War II, while French artists explored such tendencies as Tachism, Fluxus and New realism, France's preeminence in the visual arts progressively became eclipsed by developments elsewhere (the United States in particular). ==From Impressionism to World War II== The early years of the twentieth century were dominated by Neo-Impressionism and Divisionism, experiments in colour and content that Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Symbolism had unleashed. The products of the far east also brought new influences. Les Nabis explored a decorative art in flat plains with a Japanese print graphic approach. From 1904 Les Fauves exploded in color (much like German Expressionism). The influence of African tribal masks led Pablo Picasso to his ''Demoiselles d'Avignon'' of 1907. Picasso and Georges Braque (working independently) returned to and refined Cézanne's way of rationally understanding objects in a flat medium; but their experiments in cubism would also lead them to integrate all aspects of day-to-day life: newspapers, musical instruments, cigarettes, wine. Picasso and Braque exhibited their analytical Cubism under an exclusivity contract at the gallery of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, located on a quite street behind La Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. At the same time, Jean Metzinger, Albert Gleizes, Henri Le Fauconnier, Robert Delaunay and Fernand Léger exhibited alternate forms of Cubism at the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon d'Automne; massive exhibitions that brought Cubism to the attention of the general public. These artists had no intention of analyzing and describing mundane objects from daily life—a bowl of fruit, a pipe, violin or guitar—but chose subjects of vast proportion, of provocative social and cultural significance, expressing the dynamic qualities of modern urban life.〔(Daniel Robbins, 1964, ''Albert Gleizes 1881 - 1953, A Retrospective Exhibition'', Published by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, in collaboration with Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund. )〕 Cubism in all its phases and divers styles would dominate Europe and America for the next ten years. World War I did not stop the dynamic creation of art in France. In 1916 a group of discontents met in a bar in Zurich (the Cabaret Voltaire) and create the most radical gesture possible: the anti-art of Dada. At the same time, Francis Picabia and Marcel Duchamp were exploring similar notions. At the an art show in New York in 1917 Duchamp presented a white porcelain urinal signed ''R. Mutt'' as work of art, becoming the father of the "readymade". The killing fields of the war (nearly one-tenth of the French adult male population had been killed or wounded) had made many see the absurdity of existence. This was also the period when the ''Lost Generation'' took hold: rich Americans enjoying the liberties of Prohibition-free France in the 1920s and poor G.I.'s going abroad for the first time. Paris was also, for African-Americans, amazingly free of the racial restrictions found in America (James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Josephine Baker). When Dada reached Paris, it was avidly embraced by a group of young artists and writers who were fascinated with the writings of Sigmund Freud, and particularly by the notion of the unconscious mind. The provocative spirit of Dada became linked to the exploration of the unconscious mind through the use of automatic writing, chance operations and, in some cases, altered states. The surrealists quickly turned to painting and sculpture. The shock of unexpected elements, the use of Frottage, collage and decalcomania, the rendering of mysterious landscapes and dreamscapes were to become the key techniques through the rest of the 1930s. World War II ended the feast. Many surrealists like Yves Tanguy, Max Ernst, André Breton and André Masson fled occupied France for New York and the States (Duchamp had already been in the U.S. since 1936), but the cohesion and vibrancy were lost in the American city. ''For a chronological list of artists from the period, go here.'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「20th-century French art」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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