Details

The term modernism usually refers to a style of artistic production - writng, painting, music and other arts - that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, which departs from classicism in order to represent the particular traits of modern life. It is characterised by experimentation in form that often rejects naturalism or realism, instead favouring stylised representations.

In the early twentieth century modernist aesthetics were often associated with political radicalism, particularly the Constructavism which emerged from the Soviet Union immediately after the revolution. This phase of modernist experimentation was overtaken in the 1920s as by the official Soviet style of Socialist Realism.

Throughout the twentieth century debate continued over which aesthetic - modernism or realism - best served the ends of radical politics.

Resources

Book Sections

• Harris, Max, 'Introduction', in Ern Malley's poems, by James McAuley and Harold Stewart, 1970 edn, Mary Martin Publications, Adelaide, pp. 5-12. Details
• Smith, Bernard, 'Epilogue', in Bernard Smith (ed.), Noel Counihan: artsist and revolutionary, 1993 edn, Oxford University Press, Melbourne & New York, pp. 539-46. Details
• Smith, Bernard, 'The studio of realist art', in The critic as advocate: selected essays 1941-1988, Oxford University Press Australia, Melbourne, 1989, pp. 42-3. Details
• Smith, Bernard, 'The new realism in Australian art', in The critic as advocate: selected essays 1941-1988, Oxford University Press Australia, Melbourne, 1989, pp. 35-41. Details
• Smith, Bernard, 'Some aspects of contemporary art in Australia', in The critic as advocate selected essays, 1948-1988, Oxford University Press Australia, Melbourne, 198, pp. 22-7. Details

Journal Articles

• Diamond, D, 'Art and the struggle', Communist Review, November, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1943, pp. 151-3. Image PDF Details
• Prichard, Katharine Susannah, 'Hoax renders service to literature', Communist Review, March, 1945, pp. 457-7. Image PDF Details

Poems

• McAuley, James and Stewart, Harold, 'Preface and statement, Durer: Innsbruck, 1495', Ern Malley's poems, Mary Martin Publications, Adelaide, pp. 23-5. Details

See also

• 'Editorial', Angry Penguins, no. 7, Adelaide University Arts Association, Adelaide, July 1946. Details
• 'H.M', 'A further reply to John Reed's views', Communist Review, July, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1944, pp. 285-6. PDF Details
• Miles, J.B, 'Art for the people', Communist Review, August, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1948, pp. 260-1. Image PDF Details
• Mortimer, Paul, 'Artists and the class struggle', Communist Review, February, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1948, pp. 59-60. Image PDF Details
• O'Connor, Vic, 'A criticism of Adelaide's "Angry Penguins"', Communist Review, August, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1944, pp. 302-3. Image PDF Details
• Prichard, Katharine Susannah, 'Some thoughts on Australian Literature', The Realist, no. 15, 1964, p. 11. PDF Details
• Reed, John, 'Signs of an "infantile disorder" on the cultural front', Communist Review, July, Central Committee Communist Party of Australia, Sydney, 1944, pp. 284-5. Image PDF Details