Visitors & Friends > News > Releases > Arts & Humanities > Article

News Releases

August 14, 2003

Media Contacts: Barry Jagoda, (858) 534-8567 or Dolores Davies, (858) 534-5994

NEW GROUNDBREAKING BOOK RESURRECTS LOST WORLD OF AMERICAN EXPRESSIONISM, FORGOTTEN ART OF THE 1920s, 30s

From the 1920’s through the end of World War II, a unique form of American Expressionism evolved, depicting the raw emotion and intense strife felt by the people of the period. During this time, most expressionistic artists were Jewish, either immigrants from Italy, Spain, Greece, or Japan, or American-born children of recent immigrants.

But, because of its often controversial nature, much of American Expressionism was censured by the government, denying the genre any significant representation among mainstream art. Despite the impressive body of work created during this period, the movement was also eclipsed by the postwar Abstract Expressionism movement and was largely forgotten by the American art world and the public at large.

In his landmark book “American Expressionism: Art and Social Change 1920-1950” (Harry N. Abrams, 2003), Bram Dijkstra, a professor emeritus of literature at the University of California, San Diego, honors the previously neglected works and ideals of the American Expressionism movement, and reveals the truth about why the movement was suppressed.

With its bold social realism, American Expressionism posed quite a contrast to the minimal, conceptual, and apolitical art represented by its successor, Abstract Expressionism. The inspiration for American expressionism was drawn directly from the artists’ life experiences, creating a truly unique and moving art form. With a more humanist focus, American Expressionism differed greatly from the traditional European expressionistic works, which tended to exhibit images of horror and fear.

This provocative book unearths the details of government attempts to erase an important American art movement that, because of its controversy, fell victim to political censure during the McCarthy period of the Cold War. Dijkstra examines the new emphasis these socially conscious artists brought to the pursuit of the American ideals of equality, dignity, and justice for all. The book is lavishly illustrated throughout with works of art seldom seen today.

“American Expressionism: Art and Social Change 1920-1950” coincides with a traveling exhibition curated by the author that debuted at Columbus Museum of Art and will run through Aug. 24. On Oct. 22, Dijkstra will present an in-depth lecture on American Expressionism at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in the museum’s Coast Room and will include a slide presentation as well as a book signing. For more information, please contact MCASD at (858) 454-3541 or visit www.mcasd.org.

Some of Dijkstra’s previously published works include “Cubism, Stieglitz and the Early Poetry of William Carlos Williams,” “Georgia O’Keeffe and the Eros of Place,” and “Evil Sisters: The Threat of Female Sexuality and the Cult of Manhood.” Dijkstra, who joined the UCSD Department of Literature in the mid-1960s, resides in Del Mar with his wife Sandra.