Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction：The Early Twentieth Century (Modern Art : Practices and Debates)

Thebookpresentsasurveyofartfromthefirsttwodecadesofthe20thcentury.Theauthorsbeginbyexploringhowaspectsoftheprimitivewereinvokedbyruralartists'coloniesformedinFranceandGermanyattheendofthe19thcenturyandbytheworkoftheFauvesandtheGermanExpressionistsafewyearslater.ThebookthendevelopsananalysisofCubistworksbasedonsemiotictheory,consideringthesocialandculturalvaluesencodedinsuchsignifyingsystems,andinvestigatingtherelationshipbetweenrepresentationandideology.ThefinalchapterconsiderssomeproblemsofinterpretationandevolutionposedbyspecificexamplesofabstractartrangingfromMalevichtoMondrian.