Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, March, 2007. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

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André Malraux is a prolific French writer, adventurer, art historian, statesman, and Minister of Cultural Affairs for 11 years (1958-1969). Malraux was a man of action in the service of noble causes. In 1933, one of Malraux's most famous novels, La Condition humaine (Man's Fate), was published. It won the Goncourt Prize and established his international reputation. Born on November 3, 1901 in Paris, he was a son of the 20th century. A witness to the history of his century, he left to the future generations a literary heritage of great importance. His main preoccupation was the “mystery of man” and art. The notion of man and his destiny is at the core of Malraux’s prolific work. The original and essential part of his literary work is the reflection on art. In my dissertation: La modernité esthétique chez André Malraux: La quête du “primitif,” I explore the enigmatic nature of the concept of the “primitive” in art history context and according to Malraux’s writing. My approach is to examine and analyze the multiple facets of the metamorphosis in time and space of the “primitive,” according to Malraux’s writing, and to find how his “essential man” fits with the idea of “primitive” art. Through later research, I hope to deepen the theme of the “primitive” in Malraux’s writing and end up with a comprehensive study of Malraux and modern artists like Braque, Chagall, and Picasso, among other artists, examining their relation with Malraux and his relation to modern art, always analyzing his thoughts regarding the “primitive”.

This thesis examines the impact of Maurice Maeterlinck’s ideas on modern artists. Maeterlinck's poetry, prose, and early plays explore inherently Symbolist issues, but a closer look at his works reveals a departure from the common conception of Symbolism. Most Symbolists adhered to correspondence theory, the idea that the external world within the reach of the senses consisted merely of symbols that reflected a higher, objective reality hidden from humans. Maeterlinck rarely mentioned symbols, instead claiming that quiet contemplation allowed him to gain intuitions of a subjective, truer reality. Maeterlinck’s use of ambiguity and suggestion to evoke personal intuitions appealed not only to nineteenth-century Symbolist artists like Édouard Vuillard, but also to artists in pre-World War I Paris, where a strong Symbolist current continued. Maeterlinck’s ideas also offered a parallel to the theories of Henri Bergson, embraced by the Puteaux Cubists Jean Metzinger and Albert Gleizes. Bolstered by new scientific discoveries that legitimized the existence of unseen realms, and intrigued by the idea of the fourth dimension as infinite higher space, Cubists such as Metzinger responded to Maeterlinck’s highly popular 1908 play L’Oiseau bleu, finding there an analogy to the Cubist quest for higher realities. Despite Maeterlinck’s popularity in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he has been largely ignored, especially with regard to twentieth-century art. By examining the responses of artists and contemporary critics to Maeterlinck, as well as the intersection of his theories with the larger cultural context, this thesis aims to bring Maeterlinck back into focus. / text

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This dissertation assesses the impact of modem art on the so-called heroic period of modem architecture, dated for the purposes ofthis thesis from 1917 to 1933. The study is premised on two principal arguments: firstly, modem art - Cubism, in particular - was the seminal influence on the codification of a modem architectural vocabulary. Secondly, the increasing preoccupation with utilitarian tenets obscured and ultimately undermined the semantic significance ofmodem architecture that was derived from the visual arts. A general introduction to the tumultuous history of 20th century architecture substantiates these presuppositions and contextualizes the current interest in the aesthetic intent of the pioneering Modernists. For the sake of reviewing the genesis of the modem aesthetic, the classical ideal of beauty is briefly reflected upon. This is followed by a review of the alternating depiction of pictorial depth and its extraordinary symbiotic relationship with the expression ofplastic space. The cubist-induced perception and experience of space is preceded by the catalytic role of the mechanization ofvision on the rejection ofthe classical canons of beauty. An in-depth analysis of Cubism, coupled with its derivatives that spawned architectural equivalents, reinforces the volumetric incarnation of modem art, exemplified by Purism, Constructivism and Neo-Plasticism. This study is concluded with an assessment of the adopted prerruses and a reflection on the longer-term objectives of this study. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

Vertical Buildings (skyscrapers) challenge our perception of space, our perception of scale, our idea of movement, they challenge the way we live. Currently urban cities are becoming more and more dense. Lack of space is a big issue and now buildings are being torn down and are replaced by skyscrapers. And these new skyscrapers are being redefined to house a living and working environment. Cubism challenges our perception of depth, our tactile sense, our ideas of proportion. Cubism, as a 20th century movement, was in continuous exploration of the senses.  Cubists challenged the conception of art, and consequently shaped and influenced many social movements of their time. Like any human expression, art and architecture are in a continuous evolution. Both share the pursuit of perfection, the exploration of spatial, sensorial, and emotional feelings.  Both are a part of us. With all of these ideas in mind, I started to investigate and explore the idea of a skyscraper that would house an  art school. Where the building and its inhabitants will contribute to its surroundings of the school. There is the challenge of programing the art school into a vertical configuration and at the same time, this challenge offers the possibility of discovery for new organization of the school as a vertical world. / Master of Architecture

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Inasmuch as this investigator can determine, no major study has been done concerning music's relation to the "isms" selected for this discussion. The contemporary interest in the movements themselves has been so widespread that the documentation of them, in scattered accounts, is enormous. It is disappointing that these records provide little or no information about the musical aspects of the movements; the graphic and literary accounts, on the other hand, have been accorded generous treatments. Since futurism, cubism, and surrealism, in their origins, were oriented toward the visual and literary arts, it is not surprising that these two aspects would receive the greatest amount of attention. The meager attention to music and the distortion of its role in the movements, as has largely been the case, has created an artistic imbalance, This writer's efforts have been directed toward an exhaustive search for factors which have, in some way or other, linked music with these movements. Musical futurism has been the easiest to identify, although its underlying theories are not always clear, since the futurists, in explaining their theories, were not always convincing, perhaps even to themselves. This writer's main attempt has been to interpret ideas that were frequently vague and poorly explained to begin with. It will become evident to the reader, in the case of the dadaists, and to some extent the surrealists, the provocative nature of their activities was deliberately designed to create incomprehension, incoherency, and confusion.