ABSTRACT
Just as the United States was traumatized by political events in the late 1960s, so was Europe, by the student uprisings that occurred in 1968 in many of its major cities. And just as the Vietnam War was the catalyst for violent demonstrations in the United States so, too, it was in Europe. There was also widespread alienation, and at a time of unprecedented prosperity and cultural tolerance. The leading European artists who emerged at this time, Joseph Beuys in Germany; Mario Merz and Jannis Kounellis of the Arte Povera group in Italy; Marcel Broodthaers in Belgium; and Daniel Buren in France, were profoundly influenced by the student uprising of 1968, They were quickly hailed by the European art world as the equals of the American pop artists, minimalists, and postminimalists. European art, it was alleged, had come into its own.
