Below: Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein, 1906-1907. Below: Max Ernst, Gala Eluard, 1924.
During the interwar period, artists, thinkers, musicians, scientists, and others were profoundly affected by the Great War and they tried to make sense of the senseless, violence, destruction, and upheaval that took place. Artists continued to push the boundaries and express their feelings toward the Great War, as they tried to redefine their place in the postwar world. Some writers were preoccupied by a postwar pessimism, as they grappled with the disillusionment that they felt in the aftermath of the Great War. Intellectuals, literati, historians, and theologians expressed their skepticism about the Great War and western "progress," and they began to question previously held notions of what was considered "truth." Instead, they began to embrace new "modern" ideas and artistic styles and redefine their roles in an uncertain world. This generation that came of age during the interwar period formed a collective consciousness and challenged established traditions. Scientists and thinkers came up with new theories that revolutionized how people understand their relationship with the world, and artists created a new "modern" artistic aesthetic.