The relationship between the anarchist movement and American art during the years surrounding World War I is most often described as a tenuous affinity between two distinct spheres: political and artistic. In Anarchist Modernism-the first in-depth exploration of the role of anarchism in the formation of early American modernism-Allan Antliff reveals that modernists participated in a wide-ranging movement that encompassed lifestyles, literature, art, and even politics. Drawing on a wealth of previously unknown materials, including interviews and reproductions of lost works, he examines anarchism''s influence on a telling cross-section of artists such as Robert Henri, Elie Nadelman, Man Ray, and Rockwell Kent. He also traces the interactions between cultural figures and thinkers including Emma Goldman, Alfred Stieglitz, Ezra Pound, and Ananda Coomaraswamy.

By situating the evolution of American art in the progressive politics of the time, Antliff offers a richly illustrated chronicle of the anarchist movement and also revives the creative agency of those who shaped and implemented modernism for radical ends.

The relationship of the anarchist movement to American art during the World War I era is most often described as a "tenuous affinity" between two distinct spheres: political and artistic. In Anarchist Modernism, Allan Antliff reveals that anarchism was the formative force that lent coherence and direction to modernism in the United States between 1908 and 1920. Modernists participated in a wide-ranging movement that encompassed lifestyles, language, literature, and art, as well as politics. Antliff examines anarchism''s influence on a telling cross-section of modern artists such as Robert Henri, Elie Nadelman, Man Ray, Adolf Wolff, and Rockwell Kent. He also traces the hitherto overlooked interactions among anarchist thinkers, critics, and cultural figures of the period including Emma Goldman, Alfred Stieglitz, John Weichsel, Walter Pach, Ezra Pound, and Ananda Coomaraswamy. In doing so, Antliff draws on a wealth of previously unknown materials, such as interviews and reproductions of lost works.

During the early twentieth century, anarchism generated a distinctive oppositional modernism and a cultural legacy that was largely forgotten once communism became established as the primary leftist discourse in American political life. By situating American art''s evolution in the politics of the time, Antliff offers a richly illustrated history of the anarchist movement and also revives the creative agency of those who shaped and implemented modernism for radical ends.

Allan Antliff is Canada Research Chair in art history at the University of Victoria, Canada.