ABSTRACT
The artistic activities and cultural exchanges of the European avant-garde movements have been well researched, but the cultural energies set free by expressionist forces throughout Europe and beyond are less known and have never been comparatively discussed. This book looks at expressionism as a form of artistic practice and cultural encounter contextually situated within but geographically unbounded by European art and culture of the twentieth century; it investigates the forms of community and collective identity-making that have stimulated artistic practice and cultural communication in Europe and beyond. These “forms of community”—artists’ networks and cultural exchanges—formed a basis for cultural interaction, artistic cooperation and competition, and intellectual exchange; their development was shaped by socio-economic factors, technological advances, and new media developments.
