The modern moves west : California artists and democratic culture in the twentieth century /

This book addresses California arts in terms of 20th-century avant-garde and the American heirs of European modernism while interrogating modernity, economic development, democratization, and pluralism. The title suggests the modern moved west, as opposed to the West becoming or inventing itself. To this end, Candida Smith (history, UC Berkeley) argues against a single manner of approaching art in the early 20th century, a time no longer defined by the cultural hubs of Paris and New York. He expertly heralds Simon (Sam) Rodia's Watts Towers as an exemplar of modern artistic expression and a model for California artists no longer defined by a relationship to the metropole. This volume foregrounds the work of Jay DeFeo, Wally Hedrick, Betye Saar, and Noah Purifoy as it traces the paths that California artists took in approaching art as a distinct form of knowledge and expression. Portions of the book have appeared elsewhere but are reworked here and supplemented by 35 black-and-white illustrations, notes, and an index. Although a bibliography would have been helpful, the notes provide ample reference. Readers familiar with Candida Smith's work in oral history (Utopia and Dissent: Art, Poverty, and Politics in California, CH, Jul'95, 32-6445) will be particularly engaged by this volume's immediacy. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals. J. Decker Georgetown College