Is American Art History Conservative?: Bruce Robertson, Professor, History of Art and Architecture, University of California, Santa Barbara

This article traces the history of the Latin American holdings of the Museum of Modern Art Library, one of the first institutions outside Latin America to start documenting the art of this geopolitical region, and one of the best research centers on modern Latin American art in the world. This success story dates back to the thirties, when the Museum Library began building a Latin American and Caribbean collection that currently comprises over 15,000 volumes of catalogues and art books. The launch of various research tools and facilities for scholars and the general public in recent years also shows the Museum’s strong commitment not only towards Latin American art history but also to the present and the future of the Latino art community.

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Using Georges Bataille in Art History: Informe, Figuration and Politics

10.26686/wgtn.17011763 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Shane Jackson

Keyword(s):

Art History ◽

American Art ◽

Georges Bataille ◽

Cultural Practice ◽

Francis Bacon ◽

Visual Artists ◽

Inner Experience ◽

History Of ◽

American Art History ◽

Late Works

<p>The theories of the French intellectual Georges Bataille have had a significant influence on much recent arts practice and criticism. Bataille’s later work (c.1937–1962), however, is often overlooked in cultural practice and theory. In this later period his thought becomes richer; no less transgressive, no less excessive, and indubitably more philosophical. This thesis will argue the importance of using the chronological range of Bataille’s writing. In particular, it will redress the critical neglect in art history of his later work. The selective use of Bataille’s early work, especially the informe, in the American art history of Rosalind Krauss will be critiqued. The thesis will deploy concepts developed extensively in two late works, Inner Experience and The Accursed Share, to discuss the practice of two visual artists that do not figure in the type of methodology that Krauss adopts; the Anglo-Irish painter Francis Bacon and the Swiss installation artist Thomas Hirschhorn. Inner Experience, a work revolving around the theme of ‘limit-experience’, will be the catalyst in an analysis of the works of Francis Bacon. This thesis will demonstrate that although Bacon was an avowed atheist, he ventures to capture a sacred and impossible moment in his painting that parallels the “movement of contestation” in “inner experience.” The conception of economy developed in The Accursed Share derives from the germ of Bataille’s economic theory, first outlined in the 1933 essay “The Notion of Expenditure.” Thomas Hirschhorn’s practice and his desire to “work politically” will be examined from the perspective of Bataillean expenditure and the notion of general economy.</p>

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Is American Art History Conservative?: Jennifer Doyle, Professor of English, University of California, Riverside

Panorama ◽

10.24926/24716839.1543 ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

Art History ◽

American Art ◽

University Of California ◽

American Art History

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AWARENESS OF MATERIALITY IN TIME AND CONDITION. THOUGHTS ON THE RELATION BETWEEN ART HISTORY AND CONSERVATION

Protection of cultural heritage ◽

10.35784/odk.1074 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 123-138

Author(s):

Andreas Huth ◽

Katharine Stahlbuhk

Keyword(s):

Art History ◽

Historical Research ◽

Technical Knowledge ◽

Research Needs ◽

Research Projects ◽

Change Over Time ◽

History Of Art ◽

History Of ◽

Art And Architecture ◽

Over Time

Art historical research needs to consider the materiality of artefacts, but the character of the material and the state of preservation of any object change over time. Today’s restoration and conservation sciences provide the basis for present research in the field of history of art and architecture. Following this premises and with some examples from current research projects our contribution tries to show how much the contemporary academic Art History can benefit from the material and technical knowledge of conservators.

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Using Georges Bataille in Art History: Informe, Figuration and Politics

10.26686/wgtn.17011763.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Shane Jackson

Keyword(s):

Art History ◽

American Art ◽

Georges Bataille ◽

Cultural Practice ◽

Francis Bacon ◽

Visual Artists ◽

Inner Experience ◽

History Of ◽

American Art History ◽

Late Works

<p>The theories of the French intellectual Georges Bataille have had a significant influence on much recent arts practice and criticism. Bataille’s later work (c.1937–1962), however, is often overlooked in cultural practice and theory. In this later period his thought becomes richer; no less transgressive, no less excessive, and indubitably more philosophical. This thesis will argue the importance of using the chronological range of Bataille’s writing. In particular, it will redress the critical neglect in art history of his later work. The selective use of Bataille’s early work, especially the informe, in the American art history of Rosalind Krauss will be critiqued. The thesis will deploy concepts developed extensively in two late works, Inner Experience and The Accursed Share, to discuss the practice of two visual artists that do not figure in the type of methodology that Krauss adopts; the Anglo-Irish painter Francis Bacon and the Swiss installation artist Thomas Hirschhorn. Inner Experience, a work revolving around the theme of ‘limit-experience’, will be the catalyst in an analysis of the works of Francis Bacon. This thesis will demonstrate that although Bacon was an avowed atheist, he ventures to capture a sacred and impossible moment in his painting that parallels the “movement of contestation” in “inner experience.” The conception of economy developed in The Accursed Share derives from the germ of Bataille’s economic theory, first outlined in the 1933 essay “The Notion of Expenditure.” Thomas Hirschhorn’s practice and his desire to “work politically” will be examined from the perspective of Bataillean expenditure and the notion of general economy.</p>

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Conditions of Visibility

10.1093/oso/9780198845560.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Art History ◽

Visual Art ◽

Fundamental Question ◽

Ancient World ◽

Work Of Art ◽

History Of Art ◽

Shared Objects ◽

History Of ◽

Modern Prejudice ◽

Historical Past

We often assume that works of visual art are meant to be seen. Yet that assumption may be a modern prejudice. The ancient world - from China to Greece, Rome to Mexico - provides many examples of statues, paintings, and other images that were not intended to be visible. Instead of being displayed, they were hidden, buried, or otherwise obscured. In this third volume in the Visual Conversations in Art & Archaeology series, leading scholars working at the intersection of archaeology and the history of art address the fundamental question of art's visibility. What conditions must be met, what has to be in place, for a work of art to be seen at all? The answer is both historical and methodological; it concerns ancient societies and modern disciplines, and encompasses material circumstances, perceptual capacities, technologies of visualization, protocols of classification, and a great deal more. The emerging field of archaeological art history is uniquely suited to address such questions. Intrinsically comparative, this approach cuts across traditional ethnic, religious, and chronological categories to confront the academic present with the historical past. The goal is to produce a new art history that is at once cosmopolitan in method and global in scope, and in doing so establish new ways of seeing - new conditions of visibility - for shared objects of study.

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