Tahiti

Rethinking Art History

Marja Lahelma — 2024-12-17

Pääkirjoitus

Gákti as a Promise

Maarit Magga — 2024-12-17

Lectio praecursoria: Maarit Maggan väitöskirja “Gákti lupauksena: duodjin moniaistinen visuaalisuus ja estetiikka kirkollisissa tiloissa” tarkastettiin Lapin yliopistossa (Taiteiden tiedekunta) 16.2.2024. Vastaväittäjänä toimi professor Maarit Mäkelä (Aalto yliopisto) ja kustoksena professor emerita Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja (Lapin yliopisto).

The Accidental Canon

Patricia G. Berman — 2024-12-17

This case study in decanonization examines the making of the exhibition Northern Light: Realism and Symbolism in Scandinavian Painting, 1880–1910 (US and Sweden, 1982–1983). The exhibition became established in the Anglophone world, and internationally, as a framework for understanding Nordic art. It has become a canon that has shaped – and continues to effect – academic and museum practice. The article examines the institutional apparatus and the contingency of circumstances that shaped the contours of the exhibition and thus the canonical model it generated. Among them are the national exigencies in the US (and the five Nordic nations), the scholarly vision of curator Kirk Varnedoe, the exceptional rapidity with which the exhibition was realized, the relatively few Anglophone scholarly sources available in English, and the various pressures placed on the project. The article questions the process of canonization through which an ephemeral exhibition, created for a manifest national purpose in the U.S., generated an enduring art-historical model, even a stereotype. Through a close study of the planning process, the contingent nature of the canon is examined.

Chinese Art and British Art Journalism 1870–1920

Charlotte Ashby — 2024-12-17

This article considers British engagement with Chinese art, particularly ceramics, through a survey of the art press between 1870 and 1920. Chinese art objects were prominently discussed across this period and propelled British art discourse in new directions. Analysis of the representation of Chinese art across these publications allows for investigation into the interlocking mechanisms of new art professions, new sites of publication and new sites of exhibition, including museums, private galleries and department stores. The rapid proliferation of available objects and the comparative sparseness of knowledge about them created a stimulating vacuum of expertise that drew in a range of cultural actors. This reveals the enmeshed relationships between the emerging professions of art writers, dealers, curators and scholars, as well as the evolving identities of the art lover, art collector and philanthropist. The close study of Chinese art in British publications gives us an opportunity to trace the hidden-in-plain-sight mechanisms of art history: the actors and networks of individuals, institutions, objects, images and texts that reveal British art history in the making and the formative role played in this process by Chinese art.

Failed Canons

Jane Boddy — 2024-12-17

In the early twentieth century, critics writing about European modern art vied to categorize increasingly diverse artistic positions, name emerging artists, and define future directions. One such critic was Ferdinand Avenarius, who promoted Katharine Schäffner as the first artist to probe the possibilities of non-imitative art. Yet, despite his efforts, Schäffner finds herself conspicuously absent from the broader art-historical narratives today. This paper aims to explore the reasons behind this comparative neglect by examining a power struggle between Avenarius and Julius Meier-Graefe, influential critics who harbored conflicting visions of modern art.

Place and Presence

Bente Aass Solbakken — 2024-12-17

The Norwegian architect Kjell Borgen enjoyed a successful career in the second half of the twentieth century as a partner in the Oslo architectural practice Borgen & Bing Lorentzen. Although he was based in Oslo, he also completed commissions in Sápmi throughout his career, from surveying vernacular Sámi architecture to designing works for Sámi clients. By focusing both on Borgen’s works both as a scholar of traditional Sámi architecture and as an architect working for Sámi clients, this text sheds light on his attempts to define what Sámi architecture is.

Reassessing International Art Exhibitions in Finland

Maija Koskinen — 2024-12-17

Cold War politics accelerated artistic exchange and the transnational circulation of art. Within state-run cultural diplomacy, hundreds of art exhibitions traveled to Finland opening a rich and varied perspective on international art. Only a few of them have though made their way into the canon of exhibitions and consequently, into the Finnish history of art. Using a few Cold War art exhibitions as an example, the article challenges the established Finnish art historical canon of significant exhibitions. It demonstrates that many interesting exhibitions have been ignored or marginalized without a good reason due to prejudices or because they have been considered awkward, for instance, for political reasons. The formation of the art canon and exhibition histories are interrelated. Thus, the article suggests that Finnish art history of the second half of the 1900s would look different if more attention had been paid to a greater variety of art exhibitions. It argues that a more profound and detailed knowledge of exhibition histories would provide new perspectives into the transnational circulation of artistic influences and the impact of international art on Finnish art, artists, and the art scene.

Canons and counter canons in the battles about global art

Kaija Kaitavuori — 2024-12-17

The Cubists’ fascination with African and Oceanic art and its revolutionary influence on Western art in the early 1900s is an important stage in the develop ment of modern art. Meanwhile in Africa, in what is now Nigeria, there was a reciprocal interest in Western figurative art, which eventually led to the establish ment of academic art education in West Africa. This second story, however, is much less known and, when it is told, the adoption of Western influences has generally been seen as passive and even damaging. Now that these ‘othered’ voices are claiming attention and bringing their views to the art historical debate, Western and non-Western art narratives need to be retold from new perspectives. This article examines two moments, one at the beginning and the other at the end of the 20th century, when the West has enhanced its artistic production by leaning on influences from elsewhere while maintaining the right to grant or deny the status of art for cultural objects to itself. The article calls into question Western practices in categorising products of visual expression and highlights the contractual nature of art historical classifications and canons.

Conservative Traditions in Polish Art History

Karolina Łabowicz-Dymanus — 2024-12-17

This article investigates the persistence of adherence to traditional approaches in Polish art history and the challenges faced in attempting to challenge it. The analysis reveals how art historians in Poland have adhered to notions of ‘objective’ and apolitical science, perpetuating earlier methodologies based on a factographic-object approach. This prevailing mindset inhibits the acceptance of newer, critical frameworks. The paper explores significant historical figures, institutional structures, and movements that have contributed to these conservative trends, while advocating for a more self-reflective approach in line with global methodological developments. By confronting resistance to change, the discipline can broaden its academic and cultural relevance.

Overcoming Mutual Estrangement?

Margot Renard — 2024-12-17

Despite their relevance in art history, comics have been largely overlooked in the research field. This article builds on recent scholarship that has addressed their historical marginalization in the field by focusing on Jean Dytar’s graphic novel #J’Accuse…! (2021). The graphic novel revisits the Dreyfus Affair, a pivotal event in nineteenth-century France that marked the rise of mass media by generating an unprecedented media coverage. Drawing from art history and media archaeology, the article explores how Dytar’s narrative intertwines past and present to propose a graphic theory of media and examine the notion of “historical event.”