The history of modern art has long been defined by narratives about ceaseless innovation or a utopian ambition for universal communication and expression. Inspired by the late work of Dada, Surrealist, and Bauhaus artists who fled Europe in the 1930s and 1940s, Megan R. Luke, B.A. 1999 and Associate Professor of Art History, University of Southern California Dornsife, explores how the condition of exile suggested a powerful antidote to myths about progress and totality in the face of the crises and catastrophes that defined the 20th century. This is the keynote lecture for the Malbin Program Series: Studies and Stories of Exile, and is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Artists in Exile: Expressions of Loss and Hope. Generously sponsored by the Lydia Winston Malbin Fund.