Wary friend of Existentialism and gentle foe of nature's illusions, Irish novelist, poet, and playwright Samuel Beckett is one of the foremost artists of the twentieth century, and certainly one of the most influential. Awarded the Nobel Prize in 1969 against his more modest wishes, Beckett specializ

Absurd, Depressive, Existentialist literature, Minimal, Modernist literature, Repetition, Repetitive, Theater of the absurd

A perpetual innovator who indelibly altered the nature of his craft, French director Jean-Luc Godard stood at the forefront of the French New Wave, the late-1950s movement that included Fran'ois Truffaut, Eric Rohmer, and other former film critics from the journal Cahiers du Cinema who refracted the

Citational, Collage, Deconstructive, Existentialist literature, Expansive, French new wave, Intimate, Minimal, Open-ended, Quiet, Self-reflection, Social revolution

His artistic avocations were many -- poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, actor -- but Jean Cocteau's work as a filmmaker distilled his creative vision with a special lucidity. In film he could bring his Surrealist language and imagery together, making the dreamlike palpable and present

Existentialist literature, Horror, Surreal, Surrealist film, Surrealist literature, Surrealist photography, Trippy