The Birth of Contemporary Art. 1946–1968

The Art of the 20th Century is a five-volume project that is distinguished by its innovative style and format. Each volume has narrative text and a full index arranged chronologically by artistic period. In this third volume in the series, the halfway mark of the twentieth century to what many would already describe as the contemporary period is examined. The book relates how artists reacted to the greatest tragedy of the 20th century and responded to the advent of the society of mass communication and consumption, to the moulding of the world in which we find ourselves ever more deeply immersed today. The collapse and rebirth of Europe, the years of the Cold War and the evolution leading to the upheavals of 1968 are fundamental themes of this third volume.