Overview

In August 1914, when war broke out in Europe, some artists were caught unawares vacationing abroad and found themselves unable to return home. Others were declared enemy aliens and deported to their native countries. The disruption caused by the war reconfigured artists' communities into new associations, some of which became very consequential.

In Switzerland, the Dada group consisted of a rag-tag gathering of exiles and conscientious objectors; in Holland, a group of painters, architects, and designers interested in the possibilities of abstract art amalgamated to
call themselves De Stijl; while in Russia, a turbulent avant-garde mirrored the revolutionary ferment.

Was there a connection – was there some underlying cause or effect – linking the cataclysm of war to the great crack-up transforming the world of art? Artists of the time had their views on the matter.