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Why did modern painting flourish in Paris, Vienna, or Brussels but stall in London or Madrid? What propelled some avant-gardes to global fame while others vanished? This book takes you inside modern art’s explosive rise between 1848 and 1918, revealing how artists navigated nationalism, markets, elite networks, and public demands to invent new ways of making—and living—art. Forget the myth of isolated geniuses. Here, avant-gardes cross borders via dealers, journals, exhibitions, and exiles. Follow their journey from Paris to Moscow, Barcelona, and New York through alliances, rivalries, and migrations. Richly illustrated with artworks, maps, and charts, this is art history reimagined—transnational, social, and vividly alive.
Price: $162.00
Pages: 578
Publisher: Brill
Imprint: Brill
Series: Avant-Garde Critical Studies
Publication Date:
19 February 2026
ISBN: 9789004720947
Format: Hardcover
“A prodigious piece of work.”
- Johan Popelard, ArtPress, January 2016
“A very comprehensive and innovative work.”
[…]
"A monumental historical study of artistic movements between 1850 and the Great War."
- Jean-Marc Bastière, Le Figaro littéraire, 21 January 2016
“A new history — that of the avant-garde system.”
[…]
“A conceptual momentum that above all reflects the openness of the avant-garde system.”
- Pamela Bianchi, « Le système des avant-gardes », La Vie des idées, 19 May 2016. ISSN : 2105-3030.
"Reading this book is essential."
[…]
"It deserves a place in every library."
- Jacques Ruby, « Retour aux avant-gardes », Nonfiction.fr
"Joyeux-Prunel demonstrates the power and rigor of her historical analysis, never giving in to clichés, preconceived notions, or—worse still—the myths, gilded or otherwise, that often fill the heads of poorly informed painting enthusiasts, ultimately shaped by one or two art history courses more or less followed years ago."
[…]
"A fascinating essay."
[…]
"This essay is of exemplary clarity."
- Didier Small, « Retour aux avant-gardes », La cause littéraire.fr, February 2016
"A history that runs counter to the romantic and monographic vision of art."
[…]
"The project is not lacking in flair."
[…]
"A hefty tome—one of those deliberately thrown to shake up the system."
[…]
"A transnational history (…) that, in fact, makes the history of art appealingly human."
- Fabien Simode, « L’art des stratégies », L’Œil, April 2016.
"A must-read reference for any serious study in this field."
[…]
"Thus are mythologies deconstructed, while history is built through scholarship and intellectual clarity."
- Nathalie Heinich, Lectures – Les comptes rendus, 2016 : Nathalie Heinich, « Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Les avant-gardes artistiques, 1848-1918. Une histoire transnationale », Lectures [online], Les comptes rendus, 24 March 2016
- Johan Popelard, ArtPress, January 2016
“A very comprehensive and innovative work.”
[…]
"A monumental historical study of artistic movements between 1850 and the Great War."
- Jean-Marc Bastière, Le Figaro littéraire, 21 January 2016
“A new history — that of the avant-garde system.”
[…]
“A conceptual momentum that above all reflects the openness of the avant-garde system.”
- Pamela Bianchi, « Le système des avant-gardes », La Vie des idées, 19 May 2016. ISSN : 2105-3030.
"Reading this book is essential."
[…]
"It deserves a place in every library."
- Jacques Ruby, « Retour aux avant-gardes », Nonfiction.fr
"Joyeux-Prunel demonstrates the power and rigor of her historical analysis, never giving in to clichés, preconceived notions, or—worse still—the myths, gilded or otherwise, that often fill the heads of poorly informed painting enthusiasts, ultimately shaped by one or two art history courses more or less followed years ago."
[…]
"A fascinating essay."
[…]
"This essay is of exemplary clarity."
- Didier Small, « Retour aux avant-gardes », La cause littéraire.fr, February 2016
"A history that runs counter to the romantic and monographic vision of art."
[…]
"The project is not lacking in flair."
[…]
"A hefty tome—one of those deliberately thrown to shake up the system."
[…]
"A transnational history (…) that, in fact, makes the history of art appealingly human."
- Fabien Simode, « L’art des stratégies », L’Œil, April 2016.
"A must-read reference for any serious study in this field."
[…]
"Thus are mythologies deconstructed, while history is built through scholarship and intellectual clarity."
- Nathalie Heinich, Lectures – Les comptes rendus, 2016 : Nathalie Heinich, « Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel, Les avant-gardes artistiques, 1848-1918. Une histoire transnationale », Lectures [online], Les comptes rendus, 24 March 2016
Béatrice Joyeux-Prunel (Ph.D. 2025, Habilitation 2015) is Professor of Digital Humanities at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. From 2007 to 2019 she was Associate Professor in Modern and Contemporary Art History at École normale supérieure, Paris. Her work bridges modern and contemporary art history, global history and social history, and computational methods, offering new perspectives on visual culture and artistic globalization.