The Adventurers of Modern Art

Bohemia: This series ventures into early 20th century Paris, where the likes of Picasso, Dali and Hemingway gave birth to movements including Cubism, Dadaism, and Surrealism.

Picasso responds to Matisse with Les Demoiselles d'Avignon. The canvas causes a scandal and ushers in the aesthetic of cubism. Not long thereafter, however, a series of rifts occur. Picasso, now wealthy from record sales figures, leaves the Bateau-Lavoir. Apollinaire moves into the heart of the Saint-Germain neighborhood.

On being released from the hospital, Apollinaire discovers what life is like in Paris during the war. In Montparnasse, foreign artists - many Jewish, having fled Eastern Europe Antisemitism form the Soutine. In 1917, Apollinaire stages his play Les Mamelles de Tirésias using the subheading "surrealist drama." The word "surrealist" is born.

The war has ended, and the streets erupt in celebration. Montparnasse swings to the rhythms of jazz and hops to the buzz of lively cafés. Paris is a movable feast. Conceived as reactions against the absurdity of war, the Dadaist and Surrealist revolutions are underway. Leading the charge are "the three musketeers": Breton, Aragon, and Soupault, backed by Man Ray, Desnos, Tzara, and others.

The interwar period is significant for its tumults of hope and illusion. Communism is a tempting alternative, and the desire for social, artistic, and political revolution hangs in the air... In 1936, war erupts in Spain. Malraux and Hemingway are covering the Republicans' struggle as journalists, and photos by Capa and Gerda Taro get published fostering a broader awareness of the conflict.

World War Two erupts, and France mobilizes its war effort. Following the Nazis Occupation, Europe is in tatters, and artists and intellectuals flee in droves. Cocteau makes up for Vichy's hatred of him - for his overt penchant for pederasty, and his publicly known addiction to opium - by winning his occupier's sympathy. Malraux eats lobster in the South. Arletty and Coco Chanel jump connect.