Upheaval has also characterized the cultural sphere in the de-
cades since the end of World War II. In the United States, for exam-
ple, various groups forcefully questioned the status quo. During the
1960s and 1970s, the struggle for civil rights for African Americans,
for free speech on university campuses, and for disengagement from
the Vietnam War led to a rebellion of the young, who took to the
streets in often raucous demonstrations, with violent repercussions.
The prolonged ferment produced a new system of values, a “youth
culture,” expressed in the radical rejection not only of national poli-
cies but often also of the society generating them. Young Americans
derided their elders’ lifestyles and adopted unconventional dress,
manners, habits, and morals deliberately subversive of mainstream
social standards. The youth era witnessed the sexual revolution, the
widespread use and abuse of drugs, and the development of rock
music, then an exclusively youthful art form. Young people “dropped
out” of regulated society, embraced alternative belief systems, and
rejected Western university curricula as irrelevant.
This counterculture had considerable societal impact and wide-
spread influence beyond its political phase. The civil rights move-
ment of the 1960s and later the women’s liberation movement of the
1970s reflected the spirit of rebellion, coupled with the rejection of
racism and sexism. In keeping with the growing resistance to estab-
lished authority, women systematically began to challenge the male-
dominated culture, which they perceived as having limited their po-
litical power and economic opportunities for centuries. Feminists
charged that the institutions of Western society, particularly the nu-
clear family headed by the patriarch, perpetuated male power and
subordination of women. They further contended that monuments
of Western culture—its arts and sciences as well as its political, so-
cial, and economic institutions—masked the realities of male power.
The central issue that fueled these rebellions and changes—
from international political conflicts to the rise of feminism—was
power. Increasingly, individuals and groups sought not just to un-
cover the dynamics of power, but to combat actively the inappropri-
ate exercise of power or change the balance of power. For example,
following patterns developed first in the civil rights movement and
later in feminism, various ethnic groups and gays and lesbians all
mounted challenges to discriminatory policies and attitudes. These
groups fought for recognition, respect, and legal protection and bat-
tled discrimination with political action. In addition, the growing
scrutiny in numerous academic fields—cultural studies, literary the-
ory, and colonial and postcolonial studies—of the dynamics and ex-
ercise of power also contributed to the dialogue on these issues. As a
result of this concern for the dynamics of power, identity (both indi-
vidual and group) has emerged as a potent arena for discussion and
action. Explorations into the politics of identity now aim to increase
personal and public understanding of how self-identifications, along
with imposed or inherited identities, affect lives.
As has been true since human beings first began to make sculp-
tures and paintings and erect buildings, European and American art
and architecture since 1945 have reflected the changing cultural
world in which artists and architects live and work.
Painting and Sculpture, 1945 to
1945 TO 1970
The end of World War II in 1945 left devastated cities, ruptured
economies, and governments in chaos throughout Europe. These
factors, coupled with the massive loss of life and the indelible horror
of the Holocaust and of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulted in a per-
vasive sense of despair, disillusionment, and skepticism. Although
many groups (for example, the Futurists in Italy; see Chapter 35)
had tried to find redemptive value in World War I, it was virtually
impossible to do the same with World War II, coming as it did so
soon after the war that was supposed to “end all wars.” Additionally,
World War I was largely a European conflict that left roughly 10 mil-
lion people dead, whereas World War II was a truly global catastro-
phe that claimed 35 million lives.Postwar Expressionism in Europe
The cynicism that emerged across Europe in the 1940s found voice in
existentialism, a philosophy asserting the absurdity of human exis-
tence and the impossibility of achieving certitude. As existentialism
gained widespread popularity, many adherents also promoted atheism
and questioned the possibility of situating God within a systematic
philosophy. Most scholars trace the roots of existentialism to the Dan-
ish theologian Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855), but in the postwar pe-
riod, the writings of French author Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980)
most clearly captured the existentialist spirit. According to Sartre, if
God does not exist, then individuals must constantly struggle in isola-
tion with the anguish of making decisions in a world without ab-
solutes or traditional values. This spirit of pessimism and despair
emerged frequently in European art of the immediate postwar period.36-2Alberto Giacometti,Man Pointing(no. 5 of 6),1947. Bronze,
5 10 3 1 1 5 –^58 . Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines (Nathan
Emory Coffin Collection).
The writer Jean-Paul Sartre considered Giacometti’s thin and virtually
featureless sculpted figures as the epitome of existentialist humanity—
alienated,solitary, and lost in the world’s immensity.1 ft.970 Chapter 36 EUROPE AND AMERICA AFTER 1945