Catalogue 'Les années 1930, La fabrique de l'homme nouveau' edited by Jean Clair

Edited by Jean Clair, the catalogue 'Les années 1930, La fabrique de l'homme nouveau' is published by Éditions Gallimard and the National Gallery of Canada. The volume juxtaposes Nazi propaganda, Soviet figures, and avant-garde works by Picasso, Max Ernst, and Giacometti to explore the creation of the 'new man' in the 1930s. Clair, described as a clinical analyst rather than a reactionary critic, examines the opaque origins of modern aesthetics and the gray zones connecting avant-garde unconsciousness with the rise of barbarism. The catalogue inventories archaic substrata linking warrior vitalism, racial 'biological regeneration', will to power, and mass hypnosis, while contrasting these with 'degenerate' art that subtracts from totalitarian 'total artwork'. Contributions and photographic iconography develop both gaps and bridges between these opposing forces.