THE INCONVENIENT POLITICS OF MODERN EUROPEAN ARTISTS

Modernist Studies Association conference, Buffalo, NY, October 6-9, 2011

Scholars who study an artist that has a clear political dimension to their work, or who is politically engaged, must at some point determine how to handle the politics of their subject. If their subject’s politics are deemed acceptable, for instance broadly progressive, then the task may be easier. There is no dearth of studies on the art and politics of Dada. However, what if the subject’s politics are considered far less acceptable: fascist, anti-Semitic, totalitarian, etc.? Often, research on the politics of these artists lags far behind that done on their cultural production. The goal of this panel is to shine a light on three particular case studies which bear this out, and to provide more holistic interpretations of these artists which blend together their art and politics.

Chair: Dr. Mark Antliff (Duke University)

Papers:

Dr. Ernest Ialongo (Hostos Community College, CUNY), The Calculated Compromise: Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and Fascism in the 1920s.

Dr. James Van Dyke (University of Missouri-Columbia), Ernst Barlach and the Conservative Revolution.

Dr. Adrian Duran (Memphis College of Art, Overton Park), The Problematic, Paradoxical Politics of Midcentury Italian Painting.