Anxiety as inspiration : the art of the interwar period in Central Europe and peripheral Malta

Abstract

The interwar period was marked by profound volatility and upheaval, which gave rise to several major artistic movements. As my studies progressed, I observed a recurring thematic undercurrent in much of the work from this era: anxiety. This realisation became the foundation of my research, prompting me to investigate how anxiety shaped and propelled artistic production during the interwar years. It soon became apparent that no single cohesive study outlines the major narratives explored in this research regarding visual artistic culture. This dissertation seeks to bridge that gap by utilising existing literature to bring it into a unified study. Rather than offering a comprehensive account of all artistic events in the period, my study contributes to broader scholarly conversations around trauma, embodiment, nationalism, and the role of visual culture during times of historical transformation. To explore the impact of anxiety on artistic expression, I adopted a holistic research approach to better engage and understand the psychological and philosophical frameworks of artistic conception and reception. Through the lens of artistic visual culture, my study examines how internalised struggles, such as grief, anxiety, and a fractured sense of self, were externally manifested in artworks across Europe. By also including works produced in Malta, my research makes a critical contribution to existing literature by situating broader European artistic discourses within a peripheral centre. In doing so, it not only highlights the interconnectedness of artistic developments across geographic boundaries, but also challenges conventional, centralised narratives of interwar art history – demonstrating that, while a shared emotional current ran through the period, it manifested through multiple, distinct veins of artistic production. Significant effort was made to view as many artworks in person as possible. Due to certain limitations, some pieces had to be examined through online sources. Nevertheless, unless otherwise indicated in the List of Plates and the List of Figures, I photographed all images included in this study. Additionally, I saw many more works throughout the research process that, although I did not directly analyse in the text, provided valuable insights that informed and strengthened my conceptual links between the artworks discussed.