Hopkins emphasizes that art during this period was rarely isolated from politics. The book tracks how major social shifts influenced the studio: After Modern Art 1945 2000 (Oxford History Of Art)
The narrative of art after 1945 is not just about new styles; it’s about a profound crisis of meaning. Hopkins argues that the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust shattered the "grand narratives" of high modernism—the belief that art could reach universal truths through pure form and abstraction. After Modern Art 1945-2000 (Oxford History of Art)
Artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning sought a new, raw language of "action painting" that reflected the existential anxiety of the era. Hopkins emphasizes that art during this period was