Modern Art ~ Thomas Craven

Modern Art ~ Thomas Craven

Large hard cover with dust jacket and non-adhesive plastic protective sleeve
Shelf-wear evident on cover edges, but book in very good condition

Thomas Cravens Modern Art: The Men, the Movements, the Meaning (1934) is a fiery, opinionated critique of early 20th-century art, written with the conviction of a man who believed art should be rooted in life, not theory. Craven champions representational artart that reflects real life and human experienceand rails against abstraction, which he saw as sterile and disconnected from emotional truth.

The book is structured as a series of essays and biographical sketches, covering major figures and movements from Impressionism to early Modernism. Craven is particularly scathing toward artists like Picasso, Matisse, and Braque, dismissing their work as overly intellectual and lacking soul. He famously quipped that it is talk that keeps Picassos pictures alive; and when the talk ceases, his art will cease to exist.

In contrast, he praises American artists like Thomas Hart Benton, John Steuart Curry, and Georgia OKeeffe, seeing in them the seeds of a truly native American artone that reflects the countrys spirit and landscape. Craven also touches on architecture (he admired Frank Lloyd Wright) and sculpture, offering sharp commentary on figures like Jacob Epstein and George Grey Barnard.

While his views may seem dated or controversial today, the book remains a fascinating snapshot of the cultural tensions of the 1930sbetween Europe and America, tradition and innovation, realism and abstraction. Cravens prose is vivid, often biting, and always passionate.