BOHEMIA : HISTORY OF AN IDEA, 1950-2000
(english edition)

Against the Grain Since its beginnings in Paris in the mid-19th century, the idea of bohemia, an urban community of artists and intellectuals living outside bourgeois norms has been a potent trope of artistic identity. It was here that the notion of an unconventional, free-spirited life, precarious yet filled with idealism was codified and romanticized. Bohemia. History of an Idea, 1950-2000 shows the continuities and differences between the scenes and subcultures of the second half of the twentieth century, when the mainstream began to appropriate and thereby erode a way of life predicated on its rejection. Nonetheless, as an alternative to conformity the bohemian idea exerted an enduring fascination. Through photographic works by 37 artists such as Alice Neel, David Hujar, John Deakin, David Wojnarowicz, Ed van der Elsken, Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, William Gedney, Libuse Jarcovjakova, Nan Goldin, Zhang Huan and Wolfgang Tillmans, the publication explores the diversity of expressions in ten cities in Europe, North America and Asia and shows that the bohemian idea continues to galvanize and inspire.