French Modernisms: Perspectives on Art Before, During, and After Vichy examines the close link between art and politics in France from 1935 to 1970. In essays on the exhibition and criticism of modern art, Michele Cone provides a broader context for the xenophobia that characterizes Vichy-era France. Cone argues that the decline of French art in the second half of the century was caused, not by the invasion of foreign artists, but by the Parisian art establishment itself, which continued to promote the Vichy-era values of national identity and national tradition.