Breaking the Rules: The Printed Face of the European Avant Garde 1900-1937

"Breaking the Rules explores the creative transformation that took place in Europe during the first four decades of the 20th century – a revolution that encompassed visual art, design, photography, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. Each style is traditionally regarded as a movement in itself but for the first time they are brought together to explore common themes and the creative transformation which took place at the time, as well as its continuing impact on contemporary culture.Printed work was of great importance to the avant garde as it enabled new ideas to be disseminated throughout Europe rapidly. This book features articles by library curators on thirty European and Russian cities, describing their particular significance to the avant garde, and featuring the artists that lived and worked there. The Avant Garde was characterised by its exploitation of the printed medium. Breaking the Rules draws upon the British Library’s unrivalled collections of artists’ books, manifestos, little magazines, photobooks, literary manuscripts, sound recordings, and posters from across Europe, complemented with loans from other European museums and collections."

Stephen Bury was Librarian of Chelsea School of Art 1985-2000.and is now Head of European and American Collections at the British Library.