Review by Choice Review
Cottington's three chapters in part 1, "Gathering Shadows," reveal that the outwardly prosperous Belle Epoque in France was persistently menaced by deep-rooted social, economic, and political tensions. A by-product of that divisive cultural climate was a polymorphous avant-garde, which in turn set the stage for the emergence of Cubism. Various guises of that phenomenon are discussed in the four chapters of part 2, "Constructions of Cubism." First, the rather conservative glosses upon Cubist novelties undertaken by Le Fauconnier and Gleizes are freshly examined. Chapter 5 poses Picasso's collages as a "discourse" contrary to those polite efforts. Chapter 6 focuses on an accumulating interplay between "Theory and Practice," as a flood of partisan pronouncements came more to confuse than to clarify the issues they supported. The final chapter, "Cubism and Decoration," interprets the evidence of the collaborative project La Maison Cubiste; signs of "Populism, Consumerism, and Modernity" in the works of Robert and Sonia Delaunay; and related traits in creations for the Ballet Russes. Some 56 illustrations, many in color, accompany the text of part 2. A thoroughly documented and penetrating analysis of the ironically productive malaise that prevailed as a fateful 1914 approached. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. F. A. Trapp emeritus, Amherst College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
