Esprit de Corps: The Art of the Parisian Avant-Garde and the First World War, 1914-1925

537 Pages·1989·108.15 MB·English

by  Kenneth Eric Silver

ESPRIT DE CORPS
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ESPRIT DE CORPS
The Art of the Parisian
Avant-Garde and
the First World War,
1914-1925
l{ENNETH E. SILVER
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1989 by Kenneth E. Silver
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Silver, Kenneth E.
Esprit de corps : the art of the Parisian avant-garde and the First World War,
1914--1925 / Kenneth E. Silver.
p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes index.
ISBN 0-691-04052-4 (alk. paper)
1. Avant-garde (Aesthetics)-France--Paris-History-20th century.
2. Nationalism and art-France--Paris. 3. Painting, French-France--Paris.
4. Painting, Modem-20th century-France--Paris. 5. Art and society
France--Paris. I. Title.
N6850.S56 1989 709'.44'361-<lcl9 89-3735
This book has been composed in Linotron Bodoni
Clothbound editions of Princeton University Press books are printed on acid
free paper, and binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Paperbacks, although satisfactory for personal collections, are not usually
suitable for library rebinding
Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey
The title page is an adaptation of Bernard Naudin's cover for the Bulletin des
Armees, 1915.
Designed by Laury A. Egan
For my parents, Raymond A. and Sylvia K. Silver
and for my teachers, Carol H. Krinsky, New York
University, and Robert L. Herbert, Yale University
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"La culture nationale pure? Cela s'appelle l'onanisme."
ELIE FAURE
La Danse sur le feu et l' eau, 1920
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Contents
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xx111
I "In the nightmare through which we are passing" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II The Rewards of War 28
III Comme ilfaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
IV Internecine Warfare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
V Fluctuat nee mergitur. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
VI Blue Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
VII From Analysis to Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
VIII Perchance to Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 76
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491