The Avant-Garde in Interwar England: Medieval Modernism and the London Underground

Author	Michael T. Saler
Format	Hardcover
ISBN	9780195119664
Publisher	Oxford University Press, Usa
Manufacturer	Oxford University Press, Usa

This book examines how modernism was tied to tradition, commerce, nationalism, and spirituality in England between 1910 and 1939. It focuses on the life of Frank Pick, who was the managing director of the London Underground, and how his patronage of modern artists, architects, and designers was guided by a desire to unite nineteenth-century arts and crafts with twentieth-century industry and mass culture. Saler demonstrates that modernism was widely associated in England with medievalism, and was also thought to have direct social, economic, and spiritual benefits for the nation.

This book addresses modernism's ties to tradition, commerce, nationalism, and spirituality through an analysis of the assimilation of visual modernism in England between 1910 and 1939. Specifically, The Avant-Garde in Interwar England explores the life of Frank Pick, managing director of the London Underground, whose patronage of modern artists, architects, and designers was guided by a desire to unite nineteenth-century arts and crafts with twentieth-century industry and mass culture. Author Saler demonstrates that modernism was widely associated in England with medievalism, and was also thought to have direct social, economic, and spiritual benefits for the nation.