The Little Art Colony and Us Modernism: Carmel, Provincetown, Taos (Modern American Literature and the New Twentieth Century)

Book Details

• Author: Geneva M. Gano

• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press

• Language: English

• ISBN: 9781474439763

• Cover: Paperback

• Pages: 320

• Release Date: 17-05-2022

• Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches

About the Book

The Little Art Colony and US Modernism by Geneva M. Gano is a groundbreaking study that redefines our understanding of early twentieth-century American modernism. This book is the first to historicize and theorize the importance of "little art colonies"—small but powerful rural creative communities such as Carmel, Provincetown, and Taos—as critical spaces in a larger global network of modernist thought and cultural production.

Gano weaves a compelling narrative that examines the literary and artistic contributions of notable figures like Robinson Jeffers, Eugene O’Neill, and D.H. Lawrence, who were shaped by and helped shape the radical aesthetics and political ideologies emerging from these unique colonies. The book explores how these seemingly peripheral sites became hubs of innovation, facilitating a fluid exchange of ideas, artifacts, and identities between rural outposts and urban centers.

By tracing the movements of artists and intellectuals across geographies, The Little Art Colony and US Modernism reveals how site-specific modernist expressions were also deeply cosmopolitan, challenging the conventional divide between local and global culture. This richly researched volume is essential reading for students and scholars of American literature, modernist studies, art history, and cultural geography.