Authors and Art Movements of the Twentieth Century : Painterly Poetics

Lloyd, Declan (2022) Authors and Art Movements of the Twentieth Century : Painterly Poetics. Routledge, London. ISBN 9781032379159

Abstract

This book explores the great influence of twentieth century artists and art movements on many major writers of the twentieth century. It focuses in particular on four seminal writers who were strongly influenced by very different movements: these are Gertrude Stein and Cubism, William Burroughs and Dada, J. G. Ballard and Surrealism and Douglas Coupland and Pop Art. For these authors the presence and influence of these art movements is not limited to a small cluster of texts, but can be felt much more expansively across their work, infiltrating all manner of multifarious and complex dimensions. These authors are all keen to explore new methods of transposing the signature styles and forms of visual art into the literary world. Alongside these more overt methods of artistic transposition, the authors also often demonstrate a deep philosophical affinity with their chosen movements. This book uproots and examines these kinds of artistic engagements, as well as exploring the authors’ own personal connections to the world of art. For these are all authors not only interested in visual art, but also intimately connected to the art world. Indeed, some went on to become renowned artists in their own right, whilst others were closely associated with major historical art figures. Above all though, they are unified in a kindred interest to adopt the power of art in order to push upon the constraints of traditional forms of literature.