Kontinuitet ili diskontinuitet? Hrvatska moderna umjetnost i Prvi svjetski rat

Abstract

This article—starting from the conclusion of art historian Božidar Gagro that nothing happened during the war that would be crucial for the overall picture—succinctly discusses the impact of World War I on the features of continuity in Croatian modern art. Based on various examples in which expressionism was articulated as a stylistic and conceptual determinant, and the relationship between art and national identity as a product of cultural nationalism, very strong at the time, the author points to the persistence of certain ideas that—despite the war—shaped the overall picture of Croatian modern art. The article ends with the conclusion that World War I did influence certain modalities of Croatian modernism, yet without defining it as a significant turning point that would lead to a fundamental change in its understanding.