ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the radical changes in the artistic life of the region that the end of the First World War brought. While newly won freedom was welcomed enthusiastically, the visions of cultural models to be developed within the new political frameworks were varied and, at times, contradictory. Artists themselves took an active role in shaping new realities. Such was the case of the Hungarian Revolution of 1919 when artists assumed leading positions among the revolutionaries. A similar fascination with the revolutionary spirit as prerequisite of cultural revival characterised the Yugoslav Zenit, an avant-garde group led by Ljubomir Micić. Yet there were also attempts at combining national traditions with the advanced visual language of the avant-garde, in case of Polish expressionist group Formists or the founders of Czech cubism. Towards the end of the 1920s, constructivism became the key element in creating an international network of avant-garde artists. At the same time, representatives of conservative modernism promoted references to traditional motifs and iconography, as well as recourse to realist and classicist inspirations. The year 1918 can be seen as the ‘modernist turn’ in the cultural history of East Central Europe, wherein modernity formed the core of regional identity and self-definition.
