Approaching the Mughal Past in Indian Art Criticism: The case of MARG (1946 –1963)

2012 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-203
Author(s):  
DEVIKA SINGH
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Art History ◽  
Art Criticism ◽  
Art Journal ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Art And Architecture ◽  
Indian Art ◽  
Contemporary Artists

AbstractThe paper examines the model value of the Mughal period in MARG, the leading art journal of 1940s and 1950s India. It combines a discussion of some of the key historiographical questions of Indian art history and the role played by specific art historians, including European exiles who were among the contributors to the journal, with broader questions on the interaction of national cultural identity with global modernism. In this context, the Mughal period—celebrated in MARG for its synthesis of foreign and indigenous styles—was consistently put forward as an example for contemporary artists and architects. From its inception in 1946 until the 1960s the review favoured a return to the spirit of India's prestigious artistic past, but not to its form. Its editorials and articles followed a clearly anti-revivalist and cosmopolitan line. It aimed at redressing misunderstandings that had long undermined the history of Indian art and surmounting the perceived tensions in art and architecture between a so-called Indian style and a modern, international one.

Hans Sedlmayr (1896–1984): Structural Approach and Pre-Modern Values

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Angelov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Modern Art ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
Structural Approach ◽  
Sacred Text ◽  
Modern Conception ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of

The prevailing part of art historians, critics and theoreticians from the mid-1950s even until today feels related to the means of expression of the modernist art trends from the last decade of 19th c. until the end of 1960-s. Modernism has become a sacred text, whose complexity should be interpreted, but not criticized. Sedlmayr’s conception of art is built on moral, religious, aesthetic and political grounds, which are the very reason for the actuality of his works – both in the specialized sphere of art history and in the wider public debate on values. That is why I will analyse his structural approach mainly in relation to his anti-modern conception of art. This is the task of this study. Sedlmayr’s effort to turn art history into a “strict science” is an independent part of his scientific pursuit; it is in relation, but is not subordinate to his conception of modern art. Those publications of his are discussed but only in the specialized literature on history of the methods in humanities, while his conception against modern art acquires an exceptional popularity. Because of that reason his theoretic contribution to the study of art remains in a penumbra. I argue that Sedlmayr’s conception has the following coinciding points with the official understanding of art in the time of socialism: – A denial to estimate art with aesthetic criteria, which the ideologists of socialist realism define as formalism, and Sedlmayr as aesthetism; – In socialism art should represent a positive ideal; Sedlmayr calls this ideal “human measure”; – Art should habituate to morals; – A conviction that the modern art from the end of 19th c. on is decadent; – A criticism against the “dehumanization” of art.

scholarly journals Temptation, Resistance, and Art Objects: On the Lack of Material Theory within Art History before the Material Turn

2019 ◽  
pp. 5-23
Author(s):  
Charolotta Krispinsson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Art History ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Simple Fact ◽  
Culture Studies ◽  
Visual Culture Studies ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of ◽  
Material Turn

Niccolò di Pietro Gerini's painting “The Temptation of Saint Anthony” (1390-1400) serves as a point of departure for this essay. It depicts Saint Anthony during a lapse of self-control as he attempts to resist an alluring mound of gold. Since the mound is in fact made of genuine gold leaves applied to the painting's surface, it works both as a representation of temptation as well as an object of desire affecting the beholder. The aim of this essay is to explore different approaches to materiality before the material turn within the art history discipline by examining two opposing directions within the writing and practice of art history:  the tradition of connoisseurship; and the critique of the fetish within the theoretical apparatus of new art history and visual culture studies of the 1980s and 90s. As an expression of positivism within art history, it is argued that connoisseurship be considered within the context of its empirical practices dealing with objects. What is commonly described as the connoisseur's “taste” or “love for art” would then be just another way to describe the intimate relationship formed between art historians and the very objects under their scrutiny. More than other humanist disciplines, art history is, with the possible exception of archaeology, an object-based discipline. It is empirically anchored in the unruly, deep sea of objects commonly known as the history of art. Still, there has been a lack of in-depth theoretical reflection on the materiality of artworks in the writings of art historians before the material turn. The question however, is not ifthis is so, but rather, why?In this essay, it is suggested that the art history discipline has been marked by a complicated love-hate relationship with the materiality of which the very objects of study, more often than not, are made of; like Saint Anthony who is both attracted to and repelled by the shapeless mass of gold that Lucifer tempts him with. While connoisseurship represents attraction, resistance to the allure of objects can be traced to the habitual critique of fetishism of the first generations of visual culture studies and new art history. It reflects a negative stance towards objects and the material aspect of artworks, which enhanced a conceived dichotomy between thinking critically and analytically in contrast to managing documents and objects in archives and museum depositories. However, juxtaposing the act of thinking with the practice of manual labour has a long tradition in Western intellectual history. Furthermore, it is argued that art history cannot easily be compared to the history of other disciplines because of the simple fact that artworks are typically quite expensive and unique commodities, and as such, they provoke not just aesthetic but also fetishist responses. Thus, this desire to separate art history as a scientific discipline from the fetishism of the art market has had the paradoxical effect of causing art historians to shy away from developing methodologies and theory about materiality as an act of resistance. 

scholarly journals Art and History, 1969–2019

2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-586
Author(s):  
Peter Burke
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Art History ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Art Market ◽  
Half Century ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S

The 1960s and 1970s marked a turning point in the encounters between generalist historians and art historians regarding the study of art. Before that moment, art history, from its very inception as an independent department in universities, had been entirely distinct from the discipline of generalist history. However, three case studies—art and the Reformation, the rise of the art market, and the proliferation of political monuments—reveal the convergence between the two disciplines that has unfolded during the last half-century, culminating in recent discussions of agency and attempts to answer the question, What is Art?

Considering the future of art bibliography: the FAB initiative

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 10-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen Salomon
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Art History ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of Art ◽  
The Future ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of ◽  
Review Current ◽  
Research Institute ◽  
Current Practices

The Future of Art Bibliography (FAB) initiative developed out of various conversations among colleagues in the United States and Europe. Events in the art historical community, including limited funding resources for art libraries and projects internationally, and the cessation of the Getty’s support for the production of the Bibliography of the history of art (BHA) provided the catalyst for the Kress Foundation grant to the Getty Research Institute. A series of international meetings of art librarians, art historians, publishers and information specialists ensued. The goal was to review current practices, take stock of changes, and seriously consider developing more sustainable and collaborative ways of supporting the bibliography of art history in the future.

scholarly journals Mutable Form and Materiality: Toward a Critical History of New Tapestry Networks

ARTMargins ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29
Author(s):  
Jessica Gerschultz
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Fiber Art ◽  
The Core ◽  
Critical History ◽  
State Patronage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Aesthetic Formalism ◽  
The 1960S

This article raises two concerns underpinning the need for a critical history of fiber art in the 20th century. The first is a critique of aesthetic formalism predominant in the Lausanne Biennale during the 1960s and 70s, which overlooks artistic, ideological, and political milieus that drew together textile artists from localities formerly treated as peripheral in art history. The second holds to account Euro-American institutions and related historiographies for their curatorial exclusion of Arab and African fiber artists. Such inclusion, I argue, would have conjured tapestry's deeper incongruities, which emanated from unresolved questions at the core of modernism: the assigning and appropriating of artistic identities, the evaded issue of state patronage, and the persistent ideological and aesthetic problem of craft and its framing within economies. By comparing three artists: Magdalena Abakanowicz, Jagoda Buic, and Safia Farhat, I reassess New Tapestry networks, myths, and systems of state and institutional support. The circulation of Abakanowicz, Buic, and Farhat around a conflux of dimensions signals a new pathway for recovering and writing a history of fiber art, and perhaps a reflection on modernism at large.

scholarly journals Is Art History of China Useless in a Pandemic?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng He Schöneweiß
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Art History ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Chinese Art ◽  
Life Crisis ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
The Core ◽  
Chinese Studies ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of

The study of Chinese art has long been a specialised field bridging the disciplines of art history and Chinese studies. This essay challenges, as always in a real-life crisis, the usefulness of art history of China in the current Covid-19 pandemic. The agency of art historians is put under the historiographical grill. Through two brief case studies, the essay argues that art historians, though as mortal and fragile, are actually professionally equipped to strike the core consequences of the pandemic in its social, political, and cultural aspects.

scholarly journals "Criticism is about creating timeless acoustics": an interview with art historian Olga Balashova

2020 ◽  
pp. 133-137
Author(s):  
Anna Kaluher ◽  
Olga Balashova
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Art Criticism ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Assistant Professor ◽  
Art Museum ◽  
Disciplinary Boundaries ◽  
National University ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of

Olga Balashova - art historian, kmbs and KAMA lecturer, art critic, deputy director for the development of the National Art Museum of Ukraine (NAMU) in 2017-2020. The interview was recorded in February 2020 by assistant professor Anna Kaluger (Chair of Art History, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv). This interview was conducted as part of the Ph.D. research "The structure of art criticism in Ukraine at the beginning of the XXI century." The discussion will focus on the definition of art criticism in the Ukrainian art context and its disciplinary boundaries. Olga Balashova talks about her career path as art historian and critic, determining for her theoretical influences, the school of art history at NAOMA, and her research priorities within the study of the history of criticism. Part of the interview focuses on the methods of teaching criticism in the humanities in the context of the internetization of criticism and the loss of its usual disciplinary basis - the history of art. It will also discuss the genre classification of criticism at the level of objects of study, in particular: the portrait of the artist, curatorial strategy, or phenomenological study of artistic events. The final part of the interview focuses on options for constructing the history of criticism in Ukraine: both the history of resources and the history of authors, the history of interpretations, and the history of methodological approaches.

scholarly journals Ikere-Ekiti in Art and Cultural Narratives

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dele Jegede
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Art History ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Cultural Narratives ◽  
Southwestern Nigeria ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
History Of ◽  
A Site ◽  
Art And Architecture ◽  
The City

Ikere, a city in Ekiti State of southwestern Nigeria, comes up often in the literature of art history on two principal accounts: first, its art and architecture, and second, its major annual fesitval. These are the two central concerns of this paper. In the first part, the unique architecture of the afin and the traditional sculptures that were its central feature present the opportunity to examine the interconnectedness of continuity and change, tradition and modernity, and the centrality of art in the Oba's quest for political pre-eminence. Ikere came to in­ternational attention through the vlrtuoslc sculptures of one of Africa's master carvers--Olowe (ca. 1873-1938), who lived in Ise-Ekiti, a town about 15 miles east of Ikere. In addition to offering new insights into the relevance of Olowe to Ikere, this essay posits a re-examination of the birth year of Olowe. In the sec­ond part, this essay dissects the Olosunta festival, which remains central to the collective identity of a people who subscribe to different religious doctrines. The early history of Ikere acknowledges the city as a site for the simultaneous reign of two rulers, the Ogoga and the Olukere. But it is the annual celebration of the Olosunta festival that serves as the rallying point for the indigenes of the city at the same time that it provides a time-honored structure for handling potentially explosive cultural and political contestations.

scholarly journals L’Imagination au pouvoir: historia sztuki w czasach kryzysu lat 60./70

2019 ◽  
pp. 399-413
Author(s):  
Andrzej Turowski
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Theoretical Background ◽  
New Developments ◽  
Critical Thought ◽  
Academic Knowledge ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The University

The present paper is reminiscence and an attempt to reconstruct the intellectual heritage of art history as it was practiced at the University of Poznań in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s in the context of new developments in cultural theory and changing research interests. Besides, it includes the author’s account of his own academic work in that period, began in the 1960s and inspired in particular by the year 1968 that brought a social crisis and a cultural revolution, as well as introduced the element of imagination into academic knowledge and critical thought. The author draws a wide panorama of intellectual stimuli which contributed to an epistemic and methodological turn, first in his own scholarly work and then in the work of some other art historians in Poznań. Those turns opened art history at the University of Poznań to critical reading of artistic practices approached in relation to other social practices and subjects of power. As a result, four key problems were addressed: (1) the position of contemporary art in research and teaching, (2) the necessity to combine detailed historical studies with critical theoretical reflection, (3) the questioning of genre boundaries and ontological statuses of the objects of study and the semantic frames of the work of art, and finally, in connection to the rise of an interdisciplinary perspective, (4) the subversion of the boundaries and identity of art history as an academic discipline. Then the author reconstructs the theoretical background of the “new art history” that emerged some time later, drawing from the writings of Walter Benjamin, the French structuralism, Theodor Adorno’s aesthetic theory, and Louis Althusser’s interpretation of the concept of ideology. Another important problematic was the avant-garde art of Poland and other East-Central European countries, studiedin terms of artistic geography and the relations between the center and periphery. The conclusion of the paper presents a framework marked with the names of Aby Warburg and Max Dvořák, which connected the tradition of art history with new developments, took under consideration the seminal element of crisis, and allowed art historians to address a complex network of relations among the artist’s studio, the curator’s practice, the scholar’s study, and the university seminar, as well as the West, the Center, and the East. At last, the author remembers the revolutionary, rebellious spirit and the lesson of imagination that the Poznań art history took from March and May, 1968.

Illies, F. (2019). Just now the sky was blue. Texts on art. Translated by V. Serov. Moscow: Ad Marginem Press, Muzey sovremennogo iskusstva ‘Garazh.’ (In Russ.)

2021 ◽  
pp. 286-289
Author(s):  
N. I. Kovalyov
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Work Of Art ◽  
Common Motif ◽  
Art Historians ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Literature ◽  
Historical Periods

The reviewer claims that Florian Illies’ essays demonstrate a perfect balance between pure scholarship and journalism. Despite representing a miscellany of genres (book and exhibition reviews, articles summarising the author’s view of various painters and art historians), the collection proves harmonious due to a common motif of the essays. The book does not draw a strict line between history of literature and art history. Similarly, Illies does not separate art history from the context of the life around art, i. e. the authors’ correspondence, their relationships with their family and friends, fellow artists and patrons. His unconventional view of art history enables Illies to identify interesting overarching subjects which include the problem of the patron’s influence on a work of art and the category of taste. The essayist is particularly interested in ‘second-rank’ authors, who, he suggests, emerge as first-rank in various historical periods.

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