Theatres of Melancholy. The Neo-Romantics in Paris and Beyond

An in-depth illustrated study of the French Neo-Romantics, a cosmopolitan group working in 1920s Paris who turned against modernist abstraction in favor of a new form of figurative painting.
In 1926, the Galerie Druet in Paris made waves presenting a group of young painters, consisting of an international group of artists: Christian Berard and Therese Debains, both French; Russians Pavel Tchelitchew and the brothers Eugene and Leonid Berman; and the Dutchman Kristians Tonny. These artists had spurned modernist abstraction and returned to a form of figurative painting. For most of them, this was the first time they had exhibited, but their impact was considerable. Art critic Waldemar- George baptized them the “Neo-Romantics” or the “Neo-Humanists.” They were influenced by Picasso, in particular his Blue and Rose periods, but went beyond him to forge new ways of painting. These artists liked to play with forgotten references and obsolete visual devices such as trompe l'oeil.