As one of the most influential contemporary art historians, T.J. Clark's name is not unfamiliar to Chinese scholars. Not only in the combing of art history methods, the application of Marxist ideas to art history research cannot bypass Clark's art social history, but also in the field of modern art criticism, especially involving the re-criticism of Greenberg's theory of art criticism, the controversy between Clark and Michael Fred is also a famous public case in the history of modern art criticism theory.
However, in addition to a very small number of professional researchers in the domestic academic circles who will directly study the original text, most people still have obstacles to reading the foreign language itself, as well as the historical background and theoretical understanding of T.J. Clark's academic research. However, in recent years, Clark's works have been translated and published by colleagues in the academic field, which has provided more convenience for domestic scholars to deeply understand his research methods and thoughts.
Zhao Yan, an associate researcher at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, translated "The Absolute Bourgeoisie: Artists and Politics in France from 1848 to 1851", is the famous work of the famous contemporary art historian T.J. Clark, and it is also a masterpiece of his early art historical research.
Absolute bourgeoisie
Artists and politics in France from 1848 to 1851
By T. J. Clark
Translated by Zhao Yan
An excellent example of how the social history of art approach first took shape
What kind of art historical research can be called art social history?
Or, from a practical point of view, how to carry out research according to this line of thinking or method, if it can really be called "method" and learn it - what are the important links in between, and what are the key jumps and connections?
Although the methods from Hauser to Clark have been discussed, many of the specific operational details have not been fully explored, and many issues have not received sufficient attention. The social history of art does not take for granted the "automatic" connection between works of art in a particular historical period and socio-historical concepts—in most cases it is a deliberate combination after we know this method, but this combination is often blunt, rigid and idealistic, and in the middle it is actually necessary to do a lot of detailed "proof" work, through a series of evidence chains to form reasonable reasoning and argumentation, so that this relationship can be truly established.
To do this, it is necessary not only to rely on a large number of historical sources as support, but also to have a deep understanding of the tradition of art history and the practice of artistic creation, and more importantly, sometimes to have sufficient academic imagination across disciplinary boundaries. This connection can only be realized when these multiple arguments work together. How exactly all this is done, through a close reading of "The Absolute Bourgeoisie", you will have a clearer understanding and experience of this research idea and method.
Jean-François Millet (1814–1875), Shooting Star, 1847–1848, 17.7×33 cm, National Museum and Gallery of Wales
This book is a relatively focused but very rich work. Focusing on the short history of the Second French Republic after the 1848 Revolution, it shows the many complex aspects of art history that affect the face of art in art historical research by studying the artistic creation of barricade themes, state patronage, and the specific creations of Millet, Dumière, Delacroix and Baudelaire during this period: from the various historical changes, political winds and ideological transformations that occurred at specific historical moments, as well as the class identities of different artists themselves. The psychological situation and the specificities faced in the creation also have questions about the tradition of art history, public acceptance and critics' taste.
These intricate factors are woven together to form a magnificent and dramatic historical picture of the French Second Republic.
Honoré Dumière (1808-1879), The Miller, His Son and the Donkey, circa 1848-1859, 130×97 cm, Glasgow Art Gallery
Strong historical color, detailed picture analysis and seemingly inadvertent metaphors and symbols
In this early work, T.J. Clark did not introduce many theoretical and conceptual things, on the contrary, the focus and focus were on the delicate relationship between historical facts and art through concrete evidence, which is perhaps the most interesting thing about re-reading this early work today, when theory and conceptual teachings are flooded in art historical research, it is very direct and concrete, and strives to implement every step in reality.
Clark points out that what a painting can tell us is clues about social or symbolic aspects that constitute "politics" at a given point in time. The period of the Second French Republic of 1848-1851 was such a special point. During this period, political realities influenced the artistic sphere and invaded the aesthetic sphere that individual bourgeois artists sought to defend. This makes us realize that art can also be political in certain moments.
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863), Barbarian nomadic tribes following Attila in the ravages of Italy and art, Library of the Palais Bourbon, Paris
Of course, all this so-called "politics" is only a perspective of Clark's art historical research, a lens that he chooses and is interested in, and what really shows through this lens is still the question of art itself, of course, it has been clearly shown that art is not an isolated "self", and to truly understand it, it must rely on different types of lenses.
About the author
T. J. Clark
British art historian and writer. He studied at St. John's College, Cambridge, and received his Ph.D. in Art History from the Cotauld School of Art, University of London, and is now Professor Emeritus of Art History at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the representative figures of the research method of "art social history" and has played an important role in the development of art history research. His main works include "The Absolute Bourgeoisie", "The Image of the People", "The Portrait of Modern Life", "Farewell Concept", "Glimpse of Death" and so on.
About the translator
Zhao Yan
Associate researcher of CAFA and tutor of master's students, editor of World Art magazine, Journal of CAFA Academy. Devoted to the study of Western art history, art theory and contemporary art criticism. His main works include "Surreal Art Criticism: Andrea Breton and Surrealist Art", "Plato's Vision: Imitation and Ancient Greek Art", "Lin Fengmian and so on". He has participated in the translation of books such as "Contemporary Art Theory Since 1985", "Green Law", "Visual Culture: Images and Interpretation", "Guide to Contemporary Art since 1945", etc.