Patricia Mainardi’s Art and Politics of the Second Empire: The Universal Expositions of 1855 and 1867 and John House’s “Manet’s Maximilian: History Painting, Censorship, and Ambiguity” both explore the relationship between the Salon Jury and the political and personal implications behind its rejection of artistic works. As expounded on in the Mainardi article, the Jury selection for the year 1867 was especially harsh. However, 1867 was a particularly significant year for French artists to have their work on display, given that the eyes of the world would be on Paris due to the concurrent presence of the Universal Exposition. Mainardi’s article, in comparison to House’s, centers more on the ability (or often, inability) of the artists to display …show more content…
Mainardi conveys a sense of that, for the artists, notability exceeded legitimacy. Artists such as Manet, as the author puts it, were “determined to be seen…with or without official approval” (Mainardi 141). However, when denied a Salon des Refusés, the collaborative effort of the French artists to produce their own exhibition could not come to fruition without the financial backing of the government (137-38). House builds off of Mainardi’s article, but is quick to point out that works featured in the Salon des Refusés were stigmatized by their rejection from the official Salon — a point that would have been useful for Mainardi to address. Mainardi’s inclusion of the individual accounts of Courbet and Manet’s individual shows are helpful in gaining perspective on how the artist individually was inferior to larger institutional efforts manifest in the Exposition and the Salon. Moreover, Mainardi’s incorporation of the petitions and personal letters of the artists augment her argument by providing a firsthand account of the artist’s reactions and feelings towards their exclusion from the Salon, a personal touch that would have also supplemented House’s argument. On the other hand, the strength of the House article is in dissecting what potentially could have factored into the Jury’s rejection process by using Manet’s The Execution of Emperor Maximilian as an example. House elucidates on the historical background of Emperor Maximilian and the French’s disastrous attempt to counter U.S. expansionism through French intervention in Mexico, illustrating that images such as Manet’s Maximilian would have shed a negative light on the Bonapartist regime. The weakness of House’s argument, however, in its casting of censorship into separate spheres. He does not acknowledge that the Jury could indirectly serve as a formal censor
In the Enseigne, art is also shown to serve a function that it has always fulfilled in every society founded on class differences. As a luxury commodity it is an index of social status. It marks the distinction between those who have the leisure and wealth to know about art and posses it, and those who do not. In Gersaint’s signboard, art is presented in a context where its social function is openly and self-consciously declared. In summary, Watteau reveals art to be a product of society, nevertheless he refashions past artistic traditions. Other than other contemporary painters however, his relationship to the past is not presented as a revolt, but rather like the appreciative, attentive commentary of a conversational partner.
“…the culture industry has brought about the false elimination of the distance between art and life, and this also allows one to recognize the contradictoriness of the avant-gardiste undertaking: the result is that the Avant-garde, for all its talk of purging art of affirmation with forces of production consumption, became an accomplice in the total subsumption of Art under capitalism.”
‘I want to show artists from the whole world, and to leave the ghetto of contemporary Western art where we have been shut up over these last decades’ (Buchloh & Martin, 1989, p. 27). Jean-Hubert Martin’s exhibition Les Magiciens de la Terre more than challenged, it stampeded into the contemporary Western art world demanding that it expand its vision beyond the generally agreed and understood definition of art. Martin wanted the art world to encompass the global through his sole curatorial vision. In a response to the centralised view of the art world of the time, Martin curated an exhibition to redefine this view and include his discovery of the art of the peripheries which he brought back to this local centre. Arising from this, the dominant
The authors of these passages have very different ideas about censorship. After evaluation, I will determine which passage states a stronger argument. I believe that Passage 1 provides a stronger argument than Passage 2. Passage 1 states that his argument is “There are many problems with censorship.” The author has many strengths throughout his argument.
Art for Art's Sake: Its Fallacy and Viciousness. The Art World, Vol.2. May 1917. 98-102
Goldwater, Robert and Marco Treves (eds.). Artists on Art: from the XIV to the XX Century. New York: Pantheon Books, 1945.
“Philosophers, writers, and artists expressed disillusionment with the rational-humanist tradition of the Enlightenment. They no longer shared the Enlightenment's confidence in either reason's capabilities or human goodness.” (Perry, pg. 457) It is interesting to follow art through history and see how the general mood of society changed with various aspects of history, and how events have a strong connection to the art of the corresponding time.
Rationalization is the process whereby emotions, traditions, and values are replaced by value-rational thought and actions (rational and calculated). These include the attempt to discover the most effective and efficient technique to accomplish a valued goal. According to Weber’s theory, rationalization makes ends of means, however it incarcerates one in an iron cage of rationalized organizations and associations. In Weber’s perception, the contemporary society, specifically the western world is developing towards increased rationalization. Weber believed that bureaucracy is the most preeminent example of rationalization.
Edouard Manet, often considered one of the founders of modern art, certainly challenged the norm and incited thought through his paintings and sketches. His works challenged social norms and were critical of politics. As we look at his art today it is hard to see how his work is controversial. The images within his paintings that seem little more than after thought, would have shocked and appalled people of the mid 19th century. However, with a little more knowledge pertaining to the meaning of the imagery, and how it would be perceived at the time, it is a wonder that Manet died of natural causes rather than riot or execution. He deliberately used images from famous paintings and applied them in ways that would either draw parallels to the original work or contradict it completely. Manet also used techniques to involve his audience in the painting, essentially extending the work beyond the canvas. The Execution of Emperor Maximilian is no exception to any of these rules.
The questionable influence and dominance of western culture is at the forefront of a new form of seemingly ephemeral diplomatic history that is termed ‘new internationalism’. Internationalism itself is not really a new concept, and is basically a system based on equality for all people and cultures on a global scale. In the global art world ‘new internationalism’ is an active topic and was the focus of a 1994 INIVA Symposium entitled, A New International Symposium. The topics discussed included: Recording the International; Art, History and the Modern Museum; Beyond Diversity and Difference; Curatorship and International Exhibitions.1 During his lecture at the symposium, sculptor, essayist and poet Jimmie Durham puts forth the idea that, “…Europeans seem to think that, as art is their invention, effective art is within a developed vocabulary and accent…”2 This kind of statement emphasizes the enormous task of disuniting ‘actual’ art history from that recorded under the influence of western culture, and it demonstrates the long-standing influence of imperial thinking.
O’Donnell, Sr., Joseph J.. “Art and the French Revolution”. The Eerie Digest, May 2013. Web. 5th May 2013.
Salon de Paris was a popular annual art show held by The Académie each year. Juries would select artwork to display to the public for commission and exposure, but they served to be bias to their specific style
Women’s interest in art and attempts to hold a career would be met with disapproval in a society demanding a woman stay out of masculine activities and to stick to their realm of abilities. In an anonymous letter submitted to a French art journal L’Artiste the expectation of women’s participation in art is expressed as:
Works Cited Rewald, Sabine. The "Fauvism" - "The 'Fauvism'" Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/fauv/hd_fauv.htm (October 2004). Pioch, Nicolas. The.
The white tent was huge holding all of the creame de la cream of the upper crust of society. I was looking ahead into the field and watching the game and I still do not know who is winning when I felt someone beside me. I turn to my left and see Charles holding two flutes of Champaign. “Thank you.”