Art history

This article is about the academic discipline of art history. For an overview of the history of art worldwide, see History of art.

Art history (also sometimes called history of art, particularly when a university subject) is a term which encompasses several different methods of studying the visual arts; in its most common usage it refers to the academic study of works of art and architecture. The definition is, however, wide-ranging, and some aspects of the discipline overlap with art criticism and art theory, as is demonstrated by Ernst Gombrich's observation that "the field of art history ^* much like Caesar's Gaul, divided into three parts inhabited by three different, though not necessarily hostile tribes: the connoisseurs, the critics and the academic art historians". Ernst Gombrich (1996). The Essential Gombrich, p. 7. London: Phaidon Press Works of criticism or of theory have frequently been the pivots around which the understanding of art history has turned.

Historical development

The ancient world

The earliest surviving writing on art that can be classified as art history is the passages in Pliny the Elder's Natural History concerning the development of Greek sculpture and painting. From it it is possible to trace the ideas of Xenokrates of Sicyon, a Greek sculptor who was possibly the first art historian. As a result, although Pliny's work was mainly an encyclopaedia of the sciences, his writings on art were disproportionately influential from the Renaissance onwards, particularly the passages about the techniques used by the painter Apelles. Similar, though independent developments occurred in 6th century China, where a canon of worthy artists was established by writers in the scholar-official class (who, being necessarily proficient in calligraphy, were artists themselves), and the Six Principles of Painting were formulated by Xie He.

The beginnings of modern art history

It was not until the end of the Italian Renaissance that the first modern account of the 'history of art' recognisable as such appeared, although the personal reminisces of artists such as Lorenzo Ghiberti had long been in circulation. This was the Lives of the most Excellent Painters, Sculptors and Architects by Giorgio Vasari, a biographical account of individual Italian artists which saw the story of art as being one of continual progress, its apogee being Vasari's contemporary and friend Michelangelo. Considered 'the father of art history', Vasari's ideas largely held sway until the 18th century. At that time scholars such as Johann Joachim Winckelmann criticised his focus on personalities, arguing that emphasis should be put on the meaning of art to the beholder and not to the artist. Winckelmann's writings were also early works of art criticism, criticising the excesses of the Baroque and Rococo and instrumental in bringing about the change of taste in favour of sober Neoclassicism. From Winckelmann onwards until the early 20th century, the field of art history was dominated by academics from the German-speaking world.

Modern Art History

The "father" of modern art history is Heinrich Wölfflin, whose ideas fall into three categories. First, his dissertation was an attempt to study art using psychology--particularly the work of Willhelm Wundt. His major idea was that art and architecture is viewed as good if it reflects the human body. For example, houses were good if their façades looked like faces. His second idea was to study art using comparison. Through comparison of individual paontings he was able to distinguish style. His book Renaissance and Baroque was the first to show how the Baroque period differed from the Renaissance. He was totally disinterested in the biographies of artists and proposed that we create an "art history without names." Finally, he studied art based on ideas of nationhood. He was particularly interested in whether there was an inherently "Italian" and an inherently "German" style. This last interest was most fully articulated in his monograph on the German artist Albrecht Durer.

Psychoanalytic Art History

Heinrich Wölfflin was not the only art historian to use psychological theories to study art. Sigmund Freud himself wrote a book on the artist Leonardo Da Vinci. In this book, Freud used his paintings to interrogate the artist's psyche. Among the points that Freud made was that Leonardo was likely a homosexual. The book is quite controversial today because he applies modern psychological categories onto the past, when these categories had no meaning. In other words, Freud thought that Leonardo was homosexual, but Leonardo himself would not have thought of himself in that way. If Leonardo categorized his homosexuality at all, then he would have considered himself a sodomite.

After Freud, several other scholars have applied psychoanalytic theory to art. One of the most well know of which is Laurie Schnieder Adams, who wrote a popular textbook Art Across Time.

Prominent Critical Art Historians

Since Heinrich Wolfflin's time, art history has embraced social history by using critical approaches. The goal of these approaches is to show how art interacts with power structures in society. THe first critical approach that art historians used was Marxism. Marxist art history attempted to show how art was tied to specific classes, how images contain information about the economy, and how images can make the status quo seem natural (ideology).

Marxist Art Historians

Meyer Schapiro was the first art historian to take Marxism seriously. While he wrote about numerous time periods and themes in art, he is best remembered for his commentary on sculpture from the late middle ages and early Renaissance, at which time he saw evidence of capitalism emerging and feudalism declining.

Arnold Hauser wrote the first marxist survey of Western Art, titled "The Social History of Art." In this book he attempted to show how class consciousness was reflected in major art periods. His book was very controversial when it was published durinmg the 1950s because it makes gross generalizations about entire eras. However, it remains in print as a classic art historical text.

T.J. Clark was the first art historian to abandon vulgar Marxism. He wrote Marxist art histories of several impressionist and realist artists, including Gustav Courbet and Eduard Manet. These books focused closely on the politics and economies that the art was created in.

Notes

External links

Art history | Art genres

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