Revolution in Art

Revolution in Art, co-written by art historians Mazhar İpşiroğlu and Nazan İpşiroğlu in the late 1970s, helps readers understand the complex nature of 20th-century art. The shaping of 20th-century Western art by many different movements and artistic events, and the relationships between these movements and events, lead those seeking information about the period into a dense, and at times boundless, sea of knowledge. Revolution in Art offers a systematic, comprehensive, and high-quality guide to readers willing to embark on this sea of knowledge, ensuring they enjoy their journey through the history of 20th-century Western art.

Revolution in Art sets out from the intellectual infrastructure that shaped 20th-century art, explaining the artists, artist groups, movements, and their impacts that sowed the seeds of the transformation experienced in this century. It then examines some terms that became dominant in the art world of the century, such as “abstract,” “concrete,” “concept,” “object,” “form,” “function,” and “image,” within the context of “universality” and “artistic creativity.” The book generally explains the transformation in the function of art through examples and historical processes, and it also scrutinizes the artistic agenda of the first and second halves of the 20th century. The book, which also provides examples of the period's reflections on artistic production in Turkey, also presents a selection of fundamental texts that guided 20th-century art.