Periodization in the Art Historiographies of Central and Eastern Europe
Periodization in the Art Historiographies of Central and Eastern Europe

Author: Shona Kallestrup

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2022-06-07

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 1000602079

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume critically investigates how art historians writing about Central and Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries engaged with periodization. At the heart of much of their writing lay the ideological project of nation-building. Hence discourses around periodization – such as the mythicizing of certain periods, the invention of historical continuity and the assertion of national specificity – contributed strongly to identity construction. Central to the book’s approach is a transnational exploration of how the art histories of the region not only interacted with established Western periodizations but also resonated and ‘entangled’ with each other. In their efforts to develop more sympathetic frameworks that refined, ignored or hybridized Western models, they sought to overcome the centre–periphery paradigm which equated distance from the centre with temporal belatedness and artistic backwardness. The book thus demonstrates that the concept of periodization is far from neutral or strictly descriptive, and that its use in art history needs to be reconsidered. Bringing together a broad range of scholars from different European institutions, the volume offers a unique new perspective on Central and Eastern European art historiography. It will be of interest to scholars working in art history, historiography and European studies.

Art Historiography and Iconologies Between West and East
Art Historiography and Iconologies Between West and East

Author: Wojciech Bałus

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-03-15

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1040023371

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume explores a basic question in the historiography of art: the extent to which iconology was a homogenous research method in its own immutable right. By contributing to the rejection of the universalizing narrative, these case studies argue that there were many strands of iconology. Methods that differed from the ‘canonised’ approach of Panofsky were proposed by Godefridus Johannes Hoogewerff and Hans Sedlmayr. Researchers affiliated with the Warburg Institute in London also chose to distance themselves from Panofsky’s work. Poland, in turn, was the breeding ground for yet another distinct variety of iconology. In Communist Czechoslovakia there were attempts to develop a ‘Marxist iconology’. This book, written by recognized experts in the field, examines these and other major strands of iconology, telling the tale of iconology’s reception in the countries formerly behind the Iron Curtain. Attitudes there ranged from enthusiastic acceptance in Poland, to critical reception in the Soviet Union, to reinterpretation in Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic, and, finally, to outright rejection in Romania. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, visual studies, and historiography.

Marian Devotion in the Late Middle Ages
Marian Devotion in the Late Middle Ages

Author: Andrea-Bianka Znorovszky

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-04-19

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1000579492

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

By the late Middle Ages, manifestations of Marian devotion had become multifaceted and covered all aspects of religious, private and personal life. Mary becomes a universal presence that accompanies the faithful on pilgrimage, in dreams, as holy visions, and as pictorial representations in church space and domestic interiors. The first part of the volume traces the development of Marian iconography in sculpture, panel paintings, and objects, such as seals, with particular emphasis on Italy, Slovenia and the Hungarian Kingdom. The second section traces the use of Marian devotion in relation to space, be that a country or territory, a monastery or church or personal space, and explores the use of space in shaping new liturgical practices, new Marian feasts and performances, and the bodily performance of ritual objects.

Urban Communities and Memories in East-Central Europe in the Modern Age
Urban Communities and Memories in East-Central Europe in the Modern Age

Author: Aleksander Łupienko

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-08-07

Total Pages: 337

ISBN-13: 104011105X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This edited volume studies the logic of community formation and the common view of the past to show how various social bonds of communities functioned during the modern national era of East-Central Europe from the late eighteenth century until today and how multifaceted this group-building really was. Through an overview of selected examples of communities in East-Central European urban centres, mainly the territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and its successor empires, the volume shows the potential of re-interpretation or adaptation of the past as a crucial tool for assuring social cohesion and for strengthening the image of group boundaries. It studies not only textual sources but also the cultural construction of local historical writings such as oral tradition and municipal publications, as well as symbolic objects such as epitaphs, plaques, monuments and public edifices. The contributors explore the actual creativity employed by these communities to envision their past and their future in homage to the ideals of centralised nationalism or regionalism and how these strongly ethnically marked historic spaces can be interpreted, celebrated or neglected. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of regional urban history and cultural diversities, memory cultures and community formation.

Entangled Art Histories in Ukraine
Entangled Art Histories in Ukraine

Author: Stefaniia Demchuk

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-11-29

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1040230598

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book explores ideologies, conflicts and ideas that underpinned art historical writing in Ukraine in the 20th century. Disciplinary beginnings testify both to its deep connection to Krakow, Saint Petersburg and especially Vienna with its school of art history and originality of theoretical thought. Art history started as another imperial project in Ukraine, but ultimately transformed into the means of assertion of national identity. The volume looks closely at the continuity and ruptures in scholarship caused by the establishment of Soviet power and challenges a number of existing stereotypes like total isolation under Communist rule and strict adherence to a Marxist-Leninist methodology. It showcases intellectual exchanges through published work, personal contacts and ways to resist the politically enforced methodology. Despite keeping the focus on one country, it contributes to understanding the development of art history as an academic discipline in Europe more generally. It also uncovers unknown or little-researched personal and academic connections between art historians from Ukraine and their peers abroad. Starting with the 19th-century quest for the method and proceeding by disentangling the complexities of the 20th century, the authors move on to the specifics of historiography after the formal collapse of the USSR. The volume transgresses purely academic boundaries and tackles the development of the discourse in periodicals, exhibition spaces and public discussions. Thus, the findings will be pertinent to all interested in politics, art history, museum studies, intellectual history, historiography and Eastern European studies.

Horizontal Art History and Beyond
Horizontal Art History and Beyond

Author: Agata Jakubowska

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2022-07-08

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 1000608549

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is devoted to the concept of horizontal art history—a proposal of a paradigm shift formulated by the Polish art historian Piotr Piotrowski (1952–2015)—that aims at undermining the hegemony of the discourse of art history created in the Western world. The concept of horizontal art history is one of many ideas on how to conduct nonhierarchical art historical analysis that have been developed in different geopolitical locations since at least the 1970s, parallel to the ongoing process of decolonization. This book is a critical examination of horizontal art history which provokes a discussion on the original concept of horizontal art history and possible methods to extend it. This is an edited volume written by international scholars who acknowledge the importance of the concept, share its basic assumptions and are aware both of its advantages and limitations. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, art historiography and postcolonial studies.

Wilhelm von Bode and the American Art Market
Wilhelm von Bode and the American Art Market

Author: Michaela Watrelot

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-12-19

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1003825400

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Based on an extensive and very meticulous study of different archives and the evaluation of original, previously unpublished, archival material, this book highlights the key aspects and trends of the European and American art markets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In particular, the book focuses on how these markets influenced each other from the viewpoint of one of the most prominent museum directors of this period, Wilhelm von Bode (1845–1929). Given the complexity of the topic, the book is structured into two parts. The first part focuses on Bode’s interactions with the German banker and dedicated art collector based in Paris, Rudolphe Kann (1845–1905). The second part follows the sale of the Kann Collection to the dealer Joseph Duveen and follows on the relationship between Bode, Duveen and the American collectors. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, museum studies, and the art market.

Performing Modernism
Performing Modernism

Author: Alexandra Chiriac

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-07-18

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 3110765683

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume examines the reach of modernism in design and performance in interwar Romania. It follows the transnational trajectories of several remarkable Jewish avant-garde artists, actors, and directors based in Bucharest, the country’s capital, in the 1920s and 1930s. The first part of the book recovers the history of Bucharest’s first modern design institution and investigates its links with German design and the Bauhaus. The second half focuses on several innovative collaborations in the realm of Yiddish theatre, including the time spent in Romania by the world-renowned Vilna Troupe. Based on extensive original research, the book shows how Bucharest was connected to Berlin, Riga, and Chicago, highlighting the contribution of Jewish cultural production to avant-garde movements in Europe and beyond.

Vienna and the New Wohnkultur, 1918-1938
Vienna and the New Wohnkultur, 1918-1938

Author: Michelle Jackson-Beckett

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2024-03-20

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0198879512

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

While the domestic sphere might seem tangential to the dire political situation and humanitarian crises of interwar Europe, it was nevertheless at the forefront of debates about cultural identity and economic policy in the Viennese press, culture, and arts. Vienna and the New Wohnkultur, 1918-1938 explores why and how the Viennese design landscape was set apart--aesthetically and theoretically--from other European explorations of modern design. Jackson-Beckett examines interior design exhibitions, press, and debates about modern living in interwar Vienna, an overlooked area of modern European architecture and design history, arguing for a reconsideration of the contours of European modernism. The text analyses varied interpretations of modern domestic culture (Wohnkultur) in Vienna, and explores why these interpretations were distinct from other strands of European modernism. Vienna and the New Wohnkultur introduces new research and translation of primary sources on flexible, adaptable, and affordable design by architects, designers, and retailers. Vienna's design discourse also prefigured important postmodern and contemporary discussions on historicism, eclecticism, empathy, and user experience. Through extensive new research in archival and period sources, Jackson-Beckett illustrates how design ideas, taste, and portrayals of domestic culture of fin-de-si?cle Viennese Modernism (Wiener Moderne) were also deployed as forms of cultural and national identity both during the early years of the Social Democratic government in Vienna (1918-1934) and later under the fascist state (1934-1938).

Africa and Byzantium
Africa and Byzantium

Author: Andrea Myers Achi

Publisher: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published: 2023-11-13

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1588397718

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Medieval art history has long emphasized the glories of the Byzantine Empire, but less known are the profound artistic contributions of Nubia, Egypt, Ethiopia, and other powerful African kingdoms whose pivotal interactions with Byzantium had an indelible impact on the medieval Mediterranean world. Bringing together more than 170 masterworks in a range of media and techniques—from mosaic, sculpture, pottery, and metalwork to luxury objects, panel paintings, and religious manuscripts—Africa and Byzantium recounts Africa’s centrality in transcontinental networks of trade and cultural exchange. With incisive scholarship and new photography of works rarely or never before seen in public, this long-overdue publication sheds new light on the staggering artistic achievements of late antique Africa. It reconsiders northern and eastern Africa’s contributions to the development of the premodern world and offers a more complete history of the region as a vibrant, multiethnic society of diverse languages and faiths that played a crucial role in the artistic, economic, and cultural life of Byzantium and beyond.