The Writing Artists of the Magazine Kroniek van Kunst en Kultuur (Chronicle of Art and Culture) in the Period 1935-1941

Author: Bavelaar, Hestia

Source: Avant Garde Critical Studies, Avant-Garde and Criticism. Edited by Klaus Beekman and Jan de Vries , pp. 337-361(25)

Publisher: Rodopi

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Abstract:

Due to its broad approach the Dutch cultural magazine, Kroniek van Hedendaagsche Kunst en Kultuur can be justly called a mirror of the time. The magazine's repeatedly proclaimed goal to give an objective section of artistic expressions that are seen as valuable for the own time reinforces the appropriateness of this name. Although the KKK-signature was not utopian and also not avantgarde, it gives a more adequate and factual image of the road most Dutch artists travelled in that time than the avant-garde magazines had done. One of the direct incentives for the foundation of the KKK was the authoritarian art policy of Nazi-Germany, where artistic freedom was severely curtailed. Looking for the right attitude, the KKK-artist chose alternately for individualism or social and political engagement, between (cultural)-pessimism and confidence in a better future.

Emphasis will be put on articles about the fine arts, because these form the largest part within the magazine. By sketching the artistic face of the KKK in the thirties justice will be done to the complexity of the Dutch art in this period. Long time art of the thirties in Holland is identified with Magical Realism and Neo-Realism and a large number of other artistic trends and views are ignored. An analysis of the KKK sheds light upon the attitude of a large group of Dutch artists toward the avant-garde, retour à l'ordre, the decline of culture and the purpose of the artist in society.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2007-06-01

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