About the Book

« Catalogue of the exhibition L'Art en Guerre, France 1938-1947, from PICASSO to DUBUFFET, this work shows how, in a context of scarcity and oppression, artists proposed new responses that would profoundly modify the content and form of art down to the present day. Divided into about ten strong sequences, the exhibition opens in 1938 with the International Surrealist Exhibition in the troubled atmosphere of the pre-war period. In the numerous internment camps in France and soon within the secrecy of clandestine locations, artists adapted their creative processes and materials: wax, string, stone, etc., creating works whose apparent fragility often restores a desperate energy. After the war and the defeat of France, with the Nazi occupation and the establishment of the Vichy regime, artists were condemned to adapt to the new realities of the dark years. The exhibition will bring the blind spots of history back to the foreground by making them visible on an equal footing with the rest that predominated: the major "independents" (Matisse, Picasso, Léger, Derain) in 1938-1940, and will recreate Picasso's Grands Augustins studio where many painted masterpieces (Aubade, Grand Nude, Woman with Artichoke, etc.) or sculpted ones (Death's Head, Man with Sheep, etc.) were created. The post-war section (1944-1947) will present the major modern movements, some ensuring Reconstruction, others taking a radical line of flight (Lettrism, Tachisme, Art Brut, or the recovery of waste or objects rejected by war), making the work the sole response to history. This reference work addresses the artistic challenges of the 1940s from a new angle, integrating the social and political history of that decade. It will consist of a first part presenting the exhibited works (over 300 works by eighty artists) and an abecedary of over 200 entries, written by over 150 authors, focusing on specific issues related to history and art history. »
Publisher's note.