Elsner writes that ‘the desire to attain’ the ‘fundamental grounds of meaning in art’ is crucial for art history, even if this goal is unreachable. This focus on desire might be the most accurate answer to Peters Corbett’s question, asking why canonical art requires specialised attention, though Elsner does not probe this desire’s origins. [...]
Posts Tagged ‘reflective writing’
Art History Notes: Changes in the Discipline
During the 1970s (and ongoing) rethink of values and methods in the humanities, stylistic analysis and certain kinds of formal discussion have been avoided, because of the dangerous implications of their grand-narrative determinism and ‘celebrations of national heritage’. The ‘history of the image rather than that of art’ is associated with ‘visual culture’ studies on [...]
