Church Art in America

CLEAN, ANTISEPTIC AND SECULAR

Modernism, whose impact on Christian liturgy and theology has been such an important subject of these last few years, also has had, as might be expected, a notable effect on religious art in America. Since the war, hundreds of new churches—as well as new synagogues—have been built, affording golden opportunities not only for the architects, but for painters, sculptors, silversmiths, ceramists and other craftsmen. Commercial firms and artists’ cooperatives specializing in religious art have proliferated; in many ways, religious art is booming. Yet a confusion of ends and means prevails, and it is clear that a determination to be “modern” at all costs does not necessarily improve what is presented.

RB

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Ruth Berenson

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CLEAN, ANTISEPTIC AND SECULAR

Modernism, whose impact on Christian liturgy and theology has been such an important subject of these last few years, also has had, as might be expected, a notable effect on religious art in America. Since the war, hundreds of new churches—as well as new synagogues—have been built, affording golden opportunities not only for the architects, but for painters, sculptors, silversmiths, ceramists and other craftsmen. Commercial firms and artists’ cooperatives specializing in religious art have proliferated; in many ways, religious art is booming. Yet a confusion of ends and means prevails, and it is clear that a determination to be “modern” at all costs does not necessarily improve what is presented.