Fine art as an integral part of architecture: Political and social aspects of the formation of this synthesis in the 20th century

Abstract

Abstract The theme of the connection of visual arts with architecture, or the cooperation of visual artists with architects in post-war Europe, basically follows two lines: a theoretical line and a political-institutional line. Just as knowledge of the history of art and the history of architecture is necessary in the analysis of this period, knowledge of the political-economic circumstances is necessary in the field of realisations in architecture, because by definition, this public art is a political affair and is not an independent creation. Art in architecture was promoted not only in communist countries (for ideological reasons), but also in Western Europe as an aesthetic cultivation of contemporary architecture. From the mid-1950s onwards, visual art in architectural space appeared more and more frequently, which led to the adoption of legislative measures that regulated and supported this practice. A gradual transformation in the understanding of the task can be observed over the period under review, or the position of public art, presented as part of architecture or public space. This is naturally due to social development. If at the beginning of the 1950s it was a mission to convey ideology and indoctrinate it, in the next stage the focus shifts more towards design with the task of cultivating the environment and creating a certain atmosphere. The study also peripherally explores forms of arts support in the context of other European countries. The idea of integration between art and architecture dates back to the very origins of both disciplines. During the avant-garde movement at the beginning of the twentieth century, it acquired a new meaning and social purpose and became one of the most defining characteristics of modernism. Modernism arose from the expectation of moral and material reconstruction of the world devastated by war, which served as a tool to strengthen collective identity and, consequently, to forge the bond between the city and its inhabitants. Our study traces the development and contexts of the relationship and funding of visual arts in architecture in the Slovak and European context in the 20th century.