Art Beyond Borders: Artistic Exchange in Communist Europe (1945-1989)

Art beyond Borders explores artistic interactions between the Soviet bloc and the West between 1945 and 1989, highlighting the exchange of artistic ideas and products despite the Iron Curtain and national borders. It discusses networks, centers, peripheries, scales, and distances, and how (neo)avant-garde tendencies related to officially sanctioned socialist realism. The literature on Eastern European art provides factual knowledge but often through stereotypes and national preoccupations.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 510 pages
Publication date: 31 March 2023
Publisher: Central European University Press

This book explores artistic interactions between the Soviet bloc and the West during the Cold War era, spanning from 1945 to 1989. Despite the Iron Curtain and political boundaries, a vibrant exchange of artistic ideas and products united Europe's avant-garde, creating a remarkable cultural landscape. The geographic boundaries of these exchanges remain to be fully defined, and the relationship between (neo)avant-garde tendencies and officially sanctioned socialist realism is a key aspect of the study. The literature on the art of Eastern Europe offers valuable insights into this cultural space, but often through the lens of stereotypes and national preoccupations. By examining artworks, analyzing art-related writings, observing artistic evolution, and considering the influence of political authorities, art dealers, and art critics, the essays in Art beyond Borders present a transnational history of arts in the Soviet satellite countries during the post-war period.

Weight: 740g
Dimension: 153 x 230 x 30 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789633860458