Modern Theories of Art 1: From Winckelmann to Baudelaire

466 Pages·1990·361.655 MB·English

by  Moshe Barasch

Modern Theorie s o f Art, 1

Moshe Barasc h
MODERN THEORIE S
OF ART, 1
From Winckelmann t o Baudelair e
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW YORK AND LONDO N
1990
Copyright © 199 0 by New York University
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barasch, Moshe.
Modern theories of art, 1: from Winckelmann to Baudelaire/
Moshe Barasch
p. cm.
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
ISBN 0-8147-1133-2 (alk . paper)
1. Art—Philosophy. 2 . Aesthetics, Modern—18th century.
3. Aesthetics , Modern—19th century. I. Title
N70.B2 198 9 89-3468 2
701—dc20 CI P
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Book design by Ken Venezio
Contents
PREFACE vi i
I. TH E EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTUR Y I
2. BEGINNING S OF THE NEW AGE 8 9
3. UNIT Y AND DIVERSITY OF THE VISUAL ARTS 14 6
4. TH E SYMBOL 22 4
£. TH E ARTIST 28 4
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 39 1
NAME INDEX 40 9
SUBJECT INDEX 4 1 £
All illustrations appear as a group following p. 184.
v

Preface
The theme s an d doctrine s presente d i n thi s volum e hav e hel d m y
attention for many years. In the course of time I have been helped, or
forced, to clarify and develope some of the ideas—mainly by students,
whose persistent questions I remember with gratitude. In pursuing the
studies that led to this history of art theory I leaned heavily on the help
of librarians. Wherever I came, they have offered m e help and friend -
ship. With particular gratitude I should record the assistance offered by
the staff of the University Library in Jerusalem, and by the librarians at
Yale University. It is a pleasure to acknowledge gratefully the lively and
stimulating interest Mr. Colin Jones, director of New York Universit y
Press, has taken in this book. I was encouraged by him in all the stages
of writing. I n the process of publication th e book has benefited fro m
the care and devoted attentio n o f Mrs. Despina P . Gimbel, managin g
editor of the press. Mrs. Mira Reich helped me in many ways, and not
for the first time. I enjoyed the continuing help of Dr. Luba Freedman,
colleague and former student. And, as with all the books I have written,
I thank my wife once again for her particular blend of encouragement,
criticism, and forbearance.
vn

I
The Earl y Eighteent h Century
I. INTRODUCTIO N
Students of letters are apt to balk at drawing sharply demarcated lines
between periods. Such students, particularly when they have historical
leanings, know better than most that, as a rule, the past persists in the
present, and that what now seems the typical expression of the present
has often bee n anticipated i n the past. History is a constantly movin g
stream, and in this dynamic complexity the attempt to find, or establish,
watertight compartments is almost a desperate one. This banal truth is
valid, of course, also for the history of reflection on the figurative arts,
that is, the theory of painting and sculpture. Particularly when we come
closer to modern times, where the clarifying effect of historical distance
offers u s less support tha n i n the cas e of the more remot e past , th e
difficulties o f periodization becom e mor e manifest . N o wonder, then ,
that fe w will venture t o sugges t a precise dat e at which modern ar t
theory begins. And yet students of our subject cannot help feeling that
around th e middl e o f th e eighteent h centur y som e event s occurre d
that, small as they may seem, indicate a dramatic turning point in the
tradition of aesthetic reflection on the visual arts, and thus can be taken
to announce a new age. I should like to mention a few of these events.
To most of the developments mentioned we shall have to come back in
1