Art of Central and Eastern Europe since 1950

In the history of art of the second half of the twentieth century, the Central and Eastern European region has a hybrid status as a vast border area between the “West” - capitalist Europe, where at that time there was a movement from neo-avant-garde to postmodernism, and the USSR, where an unequal struggle raged between archaizing socialist realism and self-inventing in isolation by independent art. This border status explains both the lack of attention to the art of the countries of the “Eastern bloc” and its diversity, which was formed in a constant dialogue with the West and the USSR and gave rise to many original phenomena, some of which remained in the shadows, while others developed in the post-perestroika period. The book by Reuben and Maya Fawkes is one of the first attempts to summarize this experience. She brings into circulation a large array of archival material and surveys the multidirectional artistic trends of East Germany, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, constructing a history of art in the region, without an understanding of which it is impossible to appreciate the current innovative art of these countries.