Art History vs. Rookie

Having FINALLY finished my Semester 1 tasks on the Monday just gone, a momentary lapse in work pressure means I am able to write briefly about my experiences studying History of Art at university. I am currently studying for my BA in English and History of Art, and last term my course was weighted so that I took one introductory module for History of Art.  Honestly, it's been quite a tumultuous and challenging experience. I feel ashamed to say that my experience hasn't been wholly positive for a number of reasons.  Firstly, as with anything at the moment, COVID pressures have made studying a lot more difficult than usual. I have struggled in particular with socialising on the course - having made a grand total of one (1) friend who also studies Art History. I can't speak for what it would be like normally, but feeling swamped with workload and having very little contact with others to establish how common my plight is has been difficult. Equally, I've found a lot of the

Thoughts on "Art" by Simon Schama Art: Vintage Minis by Simon Schama (Vintage Classics, 2019) Art by Simon Schama is just one of many in the Vintage Minis Paperback Series, which covers themes such as Love, Work, and Eating.  I haven't actually read any other books in the series, and so cannot speak to whether the problem with titling this one " Art" is consistent across the series. However, for this book, " Art" felt like an inappropriate title applied haphazardly for the sake of tidiness and continuity - particularly because the book revolved almost wholly around Caravaggio. The blurb attempted to explain how the book was a look at art through "the prism of [...] Caravaggio", but honestly, as there were no sustained references to other artists in the book, the publisher should have just fessed up. I highly doubt that Schama was solely responsible for the titling or blurb of this book - I later discovered it was a chapter taken from another

Thinking about Jacques-Louis David's artwork, specifically over the course of the French Revolution, kept putting the phrase "conviction" into my mind. By conviction, I mean the strongly held beliefs and opinions of a person - or artist.  Although perhaps an unusual way to approach an artist, "conviction" feels like a natural and important way of assessing the prevalent ideas I perceive in David's artwork, given its (literally) revolutionary context. I am yet to meet an artist so personally and thoroughly committed to the ideology expressed in their work, and hope this will provide some insight to just how devoted he was to republican and revolutionary ideas both in art and life.  Firstly, I will give a brief bit of context into the French Revolution. Secondly, I will look at two of David's most famous paintings from the Revolution.  The French Revolution (1789-1799): A Whistle-Stop Tour The Revolution is considered to have begun on the 14th July 1789 (B

It is an easy assumption to make that the best books for making you think about art are strictly art books. This is true to an extent, but one can also argue that fiction and other genres shed light on art in different ways. A strong narrative is normally central to both mediums, as is some strange emotive power that keeps us relating, provoked and inquisitive. The places where these forces lend themselves to each other, and where their  shared contexts and relevant sentiments are eked out are really fascinating. I think we can say that text and art are a match made in heaven; that they can exist in that Millennial dream of an uplifting, mutually respectful and completely equal relationship. This is a list of 5 books that have made me think a bit harder about art, its contexts and its purposes. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker / Women and Power by Mary Beard  Okay, so I lied - this is two books under the pretence of one. However, they are closely related as both

Komar and Melamid - "America's Most Wanted Painting" 1994-1997 I have recently started reading "Playing to the Gallery" by Grayson Perry. This is half because I like Grayson Perry, and half because the operating of art markets, tastes and gallery spaces is something I know little about. As is purpose of this blog, I often find it reassuring to write down and have a proper record of what I've learnt and my ideas. Essentially, I like making glorified notes. However, I want to try a different approach this time to the one I took in my last post. I will be the first to admit it might have been a bit verbose, or not massively coherent. This time, I have decided to list the key quotes and ideas  by Perry I identified  in the first chapter - that is "Democracy has Bad Taste - and see if I have any ideas about these of my own. Obviously this is mainly Perry talking, not me. That said, I think it's interesting to really focus on specific ideas! Thi

"Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" by Laura Mulvey is, undoubtedly, a bit of a head screw. It's taken me three sittings to get through the whole thing (even though it's just 12 pages) and it was, certainly, the satisfaction of starting to understand it that has compelled me to even try maintain an Art History blog in the first place. A big portion of this difficult-ness can be attributed to Mulvey’s constant referral to psychoanalytic theory, which her analysis is hinged on. As someone not massively familiar with many ideas in psychology and philosophy, this has been really difficult (and enjoyable!) to try and get my head around. Coming to terms with such complex ideas is rewarding! It’s also a bit like 1970s, and I don’t wholly see where she’s coming from with some of the psychoanalysis. But this me trying to make sense of it rather than agree. I think her insights into the technicalities of filmmaking and the results of this are very exciting though and be