Paris Post War: Art and Existentialism 1945 - 55

We saw that the omission of an ethic in 1945 still has the strength of a prejudice, and that art today reveals its weaknesses in these various tendencies:

1 - borrowed primitivism, return to the cradle; or false

naivety

2 - the mirage of the museum; or bad conscience

3 - excessive theoretical intellectualism together with a puritan suspicion of sensuality; or preconception.

4 - the move away from everything that relates to craftsmanship/craft, the way to create; or confusion.

However, it is on his own ground, in becoming conscious both of his isolation and his responsibility towards others; it is in the certainty of the uncertainty of existence and in his continuous cohabitation with emptiness that today's artist will find the authentic expression of his life.

From 'Peinture tragique' by Andre Masson, in Les Temps Modernes, January 1946.

Paris Post War: Art and Existentialism 1945-55 at the Tate Gallery until 5 September. Sponsored by the Independent and supported by the French Embassy in London.