This is a skilful demonstration of how the movements which followed Impressionism, from Expressionism to abstraction and Abstract Expressionism, evolved and diverged from each other, while examining the contributions of major artists such as Cézanne, Picasso, Mondrian and Kandinsky. Separate chapters follow the dramatic developments in architecture and sculpture.

The author shows how tradition and experiment have enriched each other in a period which has turned upside down – and in some cases destroyed – virtually every assumption about art.