The Paris was soon the focal point in the artistic world in
the early years of the 20th century, attracting artists from
all over the world. At the time, the postimpressionist movement
combined with a rising interest in African art, resulted in
the emergence of several different and new artistic movements,
including fauvism and cubism. Main exponents of these artistic
currents included Matisse
and Rouault for the former, and Picasso and Braque for the
latter.
After World War I artistic movements continued to evolve and
it was around this time that surrealism and Dada came about.
Dada was anarchic and outrageous, and lasted only a few years,
while surrealism was the main artistic movement in the period
between both world wars.
World War II forced many artists to leave Europe and head
for the refuge provided by the United States. This resulted
in a huge migration of talent and was when Paris stepped down
as capital of avant-garde art to turn this title over to New
York. After 1945 many of the leading artists such as Nicholas
de Staël, Jean Fautrier, Georges Mathieu, and Pierre
Soulages worked in the abstract expressionism style, referred
to as Tachime style in France. Other typical post war movements
that emerged as a reaction to the war were the Art Brut and
much later, the Nouveaux Réalistes movements.
