List of Illustrations xiii
Preface xix
A Climate for Modernism 1
"Make it New!" 3
Misreading Modernism 10
An Array of Prerequisites 17
Part 1 Founders
1. Professional Outsiders 33
The Heroism of Modern Life 33
Art for Artists' Sake 51
2. Irreconcilables and Impresarios 69
1900 69
A New Way of Seeing 72
Middlemen as Pedagogues 87
Part 2 Classics
3. Painting and Sculptures - The Madness of the Unexpected 103
Self-Absorption: Expressive Inwardness 108
Self-Absorption: The Germans 121
Mystical Modernism 129
Anarchists and Authoritarians 142
Picasso: The One-Man Band 151
L.H.O.O.Q. 160
Anti-Mimesis 168
4. Prose and Poetry - Intermittences of the Heart 181
The New Fiction 181
Defying Mr. Bennett 186
Four Modern Masters 194
Kafka 214
The Poet of Poets 219
5. Music and Dance - The Liberation of Sound 231
Overtures 231
Modernists: Pacesetters 234
Modernists: Arnold Schoenberg 244
Modernists: Igor Stravinsky 256
Lesser Titans 263
The Balanchine Era 269
6. Architecture and Design - Machinery, a New Factor in Human Affairs 281
"There's nothing more important than architecture" 281
"A house is a machine for living in" 290
"Good proportions and practical simplicity" 312
"Hitler is my best friend" 319
"Beauty waiting for us" 323
7. Drama and Movies - The Human Element 335
"Merdre!" 337
An Autobiographer and Others 343
The New Man 351
The Only All-Modern Art 358
Part 3 Endings
8. Eccentrics and Barbarians 395
Anti-Modern Modernists: After Strange Gods 397
Anti-Modern Modernists: A Local Genius 401
Anti-Modern Modernists: A Nordic Psychologist 409
Barbarians: Hitler's Germany 417
Barbarians: Stalin's Soviet Union 426
Barbarians: Mussolini's Italy 433
9. Life After Death? 441
Clearing the Slate 442
An Age of Ingenuity 460
Success 479
Signs of Life 487
Coda: And Gehry at Bilbao 501
Notes 511
Bibliographical Essay 531
Acknowledgments 565
Credits 569
Index 573