• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Signposts and semaphores: Art of the western world By Janice Woo Associate University Librarian New School for Social Research A new PBS series explores the role of art in western society. W o rks of art are the signposts and sema­ understood until it is seen in its context. And not phores of culture; that is, they can both only its physical and geographical context, but also mark or reflect the tenor of a society and act as a its historical, and perhaps more importantly, its signal or catalyst for a culture still evolving. Art social context.. .The idea that we are trying to con­ shapes and is shaped by the times in which it is vey is that the works we are examining are the made, be it in accordance or contradiction with its artifacts of vibrant living times, no less vital than our prevailing milieu. That art is not an isolated activity own.” is a key premise of Art of the Western World, a nine- Hosting the series is historian and journalist part Annenberg/CPB series which will air this fall Michael Wood who takes the role of a fellow trav­ on PBS television stations. It will ask: Why is the eler as he walks among the monuments, observes universal urge to go on pilgrimages, as well as the the works of art, and stops to share his commentary. cult of saints in the Middle Ages, responsible for In addition, over twenty renowned art historians many of the forms in a Romanesque church? How appear on-screen to discuss specific works at hand. did the Protestant Reformation affect the style of These experts range from the British Museum’s Caravaggio and other Catholic Baroque painters? John Boardman on Classical Greek art to Rosalind What is the connection between early 20th-century Krauss of the City University of New York on discoveries in physics and chemistry and the devel­ contemporary art. The series advisory panel con­ opment of Cubism?1 sists of James Ackerman of Harvard University, Art of the Western World approaches its topic Richard Brilliant of Columbia University, Linda from the point of view that art must be studied Nochlin at the City University of New York, and against the backdrop of its social and historical Leo Steinberg at the U niversity of Pennsylvania. contexts and that the works of art must be seen in The nine one-hour programs chronicling nearly their actual physical settings. As explained by Perry 3,000 years of art are entitled: Miller Adato, the Emmy-winning producer of this The Classical Period, 600 B. C.-350A. D.; series, “We filmed over 150 locations in eight dif­ A White Garment of Churches: Romanesque and ferent countries. Our philosophy in producing these Gothic; films was that a work of art cannot be completely The Early Renaissance in Italy and the North; The High Renaissance: Rome and Venice; Images of Authority in Seventeenth Century Art; lArt of the Western World Preview Book (New The Age of Revolution, 1770-1830; York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988), 9. Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism; 640 / C&RL News Michael Wood, host ofArt of the Western World, takes viewers to Sounion, Greece, in the first program, “The Classical Tradition. ” Twentieth Century Art Before World War IT, any other program might have to offer. Art is like Twentieth Century Art After World War II. literature which can document history, express Although it has limited itself to only western art, sensibilities, critique, affirm, be frivolous or seri­ the series still has an incredible span of achieve­ ous, propound new theories or debase old ones, ments to cover in a very short period of time. To add reflect on the past or muse about the future. Where to this difficulty, the programs were developed not freedom of expression has been realized, the valid­ only to teach art history at an introductory level but ity of all forms of the printed word are accepted or to be of interest to the more knowledgeable viewer at least tolerated. Art, however, has not always been as well. A solution was arrived at by creating pro­ afforded this safeguard. Recently the American grams which clarify major themes and milestones Library Association under the initiation of the In­ in the history of art. Rather than overwhelm the tellectual Freedom Committee adopted a “Resolu­ viewer with a barrage of names, dates, and styles, tion on the Intimidation of the National Endow­ each of the programs focuses on several represen­ ment for the Arts (NEA).” This resolution was tative works that can serve as paradigms for the occasioned by the cancellation of an exhibition of most salient concepts of the period in question. The photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe at the Corco­ treatment of each period focuses on several works ran Gallery of Art and by efforts to suppress support that are generally agreed to be seminal, both as for the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art embodiments of the achievements of their time which exhibited a photograph by Andres Serrano. and as hallmarks of the future.2 In taking this In the case of the Mapplethorpe works, the Corco­ approach each work of art becomes a signifier for ran Gallery perceived that the exhibition might the greater body of work which constitutes its style provoke controversy and thus jeopardize contin­ or era. Sometimes the works and artists chosen are ued funding of the NEA through Congressional the obvious and famous ones; at other times, how­ appropriations. It therefore felt obliged to cancel ever, they might be lesser-known representatives the show and thus deprive the late-artist of the right which can more clearly demonstrate the relation­ to be exhibited as well as the right of the public to ship between the art and its social/historical con­ view the art. Some of Mapplethorpe’s work deals text. with homosexuality and also depicts scenes of so- Understanding the function of art in its society is called deviant sexual practices. Serrano’s work perhaps the most important lesson which this or caused outrage by its depiction of a plastic crucifix submerged in a jar of the artist’s urine. Serrano was reported as describing his photograph as a protest 2Art of the Western World Preview Book (New against the commercialization of sacred imagery. York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988), 6. Objections to this work arose after the exhibition September 1989 / 641 had closed when a reproduction in the exhibition’s over, the beauty, light, and magnificent spaces of catalog brought letters of complaint to the NEA the Gothic cathedrals functioned as a panacea to which had funded the Southeastern Center exhibit. the squalid conditions under which the masses of Those who oppose these photographs say that tax­ the peasant class lived. payers’ money should not pay for the exhibit of As the merchant class continued to grow in the pornographic and blasphemous art. Others, whether early Renaissance, the secular sector became a they approve of the art or not, feel that government more important force in the field of art. The armor­ funding should not be denied on account of par­ ers guild commissioned Donatello’s St. George; the ticular points of view as to what constitutes accept­ Medici family commissioned his David; the bank­ able art. The American Library Association resolu­ ers guild sponsored Ghiberti’s St. Matthew. Here tion specifies its disapproval of denial based on “a the great skill which these craftsmen exhibited potential politicization of the grants-making proc­ caused the status of the artist to rise. According to ess, ”ln short, the controversy deals with patronage, the program, the famous and sought after artist the integrity and autonomy of the artist, and the Brunelleschi had begun to resent the restrictions free expression of art. which the craft guilds could place on the design of Programs such as Art of the Western World can his art. This development in the artists’ sense of self help us to understand these issues as ongoing can also be seen in Dürer’s series of self portraits. concerns in the development of our cultural tradi­ In the high Renaissance the idea of artist as tion . While not all of the themes explored relate to genius grew to mythic proportions in the person of patronage, the status of the artist, and the expres­ Raphael. In his own time many thought that his art sion of art, it is perhaps a little surprising to see how was so perfect that further advancement was not pervasive these issues have actually been. possible. At his request, Raphael was buried in the Rather than beginning the story of western art Pantheon, temple to both Christian and pagan with Egypt or Persia or the Altamira cave paintings, gods. Artists of this time were often compared with the series begins with ancient Greece where cer­ princes, and their private lives were investigated in tain ideals of freedom and humanism first take works such as Vasari’s Lives of the Artists. Of shape in the democratic city-states. According to similar fame was Michelangelo whose David was the program, the autonomy of these cities gave the called a miracle of art. This work became a meta­ Greeks a sense of individuality which was reflected phor for the Florentine body politic, a symbol of in their ideas about the stature of man which was in right over might. Nevertheless, Michelangelo’s art turn expressed in their art. Andrew Stewart of the was not only a reflection of his external world but University of California at Berkeley explains how also of his own internal, personal struggle with his the kouros was emblematic: the nudity of this type thoughts and ideas.

Load more

  4

Copy Link