I first discovered Art History in high school. During the class, the teacher would dim the lights and click on the old-fashioned slide-projector: krrrr-chunk! She passed from slide to slide and each work of art and each explanation behind the art taught me something about the values of the civilization which made it. I remember that I found the art of the middle ages ugly, and the glorious lights and darks (technical term: chiaroscuro) of the baroque beautiful, and everything enthralling.
Caravaggio, Madonna of Loreto, St. Agostino, Rome, 1604
Then I went off to college, majoring in... ecology. Yeah, I know. I had this crazy idea that science was somehow more real and more practical and more respectable than art history, but after two years trying to get through of classes I was less than passionate about, I was about ready to drop out. I almost did drop out: and then I remembered my old passion for art history.
My junior and senior year of college, studying art history from Japanese garden design to 19th century Parisian photographs, was some of the most rewarding learning I've ever done. I wrote a senior thesis on the art in the propaganda posters and pamphlets made by french women fighting for the right to vote in the turn of the 20th century. No one had ever written on this topic before and I was euphoric with the prospect of research and discovery.
Alice Kaub-Casalonga, Untitled Poster, lithograph 1906
After graduating, I've had lots of adventures, some enriching, some exhausting, some related to art history and some sadly not. I've had a few jobs, all of which have been less than stellar, and all of which have worked to remind me that what I really want to be doing is thinking about art history and explaining what I know to those who are curious.
This blog is for those of you who have never studied art history but find art intriguing. It's for those of you who feel inspired by art. Its for those of you who find art incredibly boring but have the tiniest inkling of a doubt about this judgement, and are open to letting me show you how interesting it can be. It's a blog where I hope you feel welcome to ask questions or reflect on your own responses to art work.
Nezaket Ekici,Film-still from performance Blind, Germany, 2007
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