The World New Made: Figurative Painting in the Twentieth Century

Abstraction came to dominate the art of the 20th century and had a profound impact on the painters of the time. Artist and writer Hyman (Royal Academician; Bonnard and Sienese Painting) here reappraises 20th-century figurative painting in relation to the hegemony of abstraction and new idioms for human-centered works. In five chapters covering after cubism, after expressionism, first-person painting, beyond the formalist canon, and after abstract expressionism, he examines more than 130 specific creations by more than 50 well- and lesser-known painters. Referring to pieces by Matisse and Picasso as "stepping stones to abstraction" and modern art as "barren of helpful examples" for aspiring figurative painters, Hyman discusses works by Francis Bacon, Balthus, Max Beckmann, Marc Chagall, Henry Darger, Frida Kahlo, William Kentridge, Alex Katz, Ferdinand Léger, Edvard Munch, Neo Rauch, Chaim Soutine, and many others.