In my dissertation I will explain how art influenced national identity in the case of the Slovene national question.
Around the year 1900, national questions were a rising topic in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which led to frictions in that multinational state. These frictions were articulated also in the artistic creations of this period. National themes and motifs were depicted more frequently in the works of art. In the year 1904, a very important exhibition of Slovene art by the Slovene group of artists named Sava was held in the Viennese Miethke gallery. Many works of art depicted their native country at that time.
I will also introduce the political and socio-economic circumstances which are important to understand how the Slovenes lived under Austria-Hungary and how after the First World War, the Slovene nation appeared in a new and nationally diverse state – the Kingdom of SHS.
Works of art had an important role in the construction of the nation (Nation Building). After the First World War, the field of art changed radically. Political activity moved from Vienna to Belgrade. Artists found themselves in a new state which was without any artistic tradition. However, frictions between the nations appeared again, which was also visible in the field of art.
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