Sculpture 1900-1945 provides a new critical analysis of the fascinating development of sculpture in Europe and America during this important period in art history. The most comprehensive concise history of modern sculpture available, this account puts sculpture back into relation with a range of other phenomena, encompassing many kinds of architects, sculptors, and painters, with widely differing kinds of practices.
Penelope Curtis takes Rodin as her point of departure and recurrent point of reference, building a story that necessarily begins in Paris, the major artistic center of the era, and evolves around responses to Rodin by sculptors in France, Germany, Britain, and America. She charts the key developments in the practice and reception of a wide variety of sculpture, from the avant-garde to public monuments. Covering all the major figures, including Duchamp, Le Corbusier, Dali, El Lissitzsky, Brancusi, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth, Sculpture 1900-1945 focuses on specific themes in each chapter, ranging from the public place of sculpture, to the private arena, to the figurative ideal. Filling a gap in the literature, Sculpture 1900-1945 is the only critically up-to-date book on the subject.