New Directions for What About Art?

Italian Miniaturist - Two Martyr Saints in an Initial S - 1340s - Manuscript, 152 x 127 mm - Victoria and Albert Museum, London (click photo for larger image)Henri Matisse - Notre Dame, une fin d’après-midi - 1902 - Oil on paper mounted on canvas - 28 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. - Albright-Knox Art Gallery - Buffalo, NY (click photo for larger image)Art history has works of art designated into traditions, eras, periods, movements, styles and such. Each designation has a definition. Renaissance art (which grew out of the revival of Greco-Roman antiquity), for example, represented a dramatic change from the medieval tradition. Modern Art (note those caps) specifically refers to art created from 1900-1945 that vehemently challenged academic standards. Modern Art is neatly divided up into five major movements—with numerous sub-movements. We have such categories because there has to be some way to organize all of what we call art—and some way to note the differences between developments in art. All disciplines have similar systems: history, literature, science, and such. But while categorization IS essential, it also can be misleading. With respect to art, many of the seeds of change are sown when and where least expected. Future posts will be dealing very much with this issue. Artists don’t operate in a vacuum. We are part of the broader world (like it or not) which also includes the history that’s preceded us. So…moving forward…What About Art? will be looking at art as a continuum—as it relates to the past, present…and future.

The two images featured here are just a teaser for you. We’ve already talked about Henri Matisse’s relationship with medieval art on this site and the works featured here is yet another example of art as part of an ongoing continuum.