David's Basket: Art and activism in the French Revolution.
Item
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Title
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David's Basket: Art and activism in the French Revolution.
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Identifier
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AAI9820591
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identifier
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9820591
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Creator
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Werner, Paul.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Carol M. Armstrong
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Date
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1998
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Art History | History, Modern | Education, Sociology of
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Abstract
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Can art cause political change? This dissertation proposes Jacques-Louis David's painting of 1789, The Lictors returning to Brutus the Bodies of his Sons, as a means of asking a question which is fundamental to the study of the French Revolution, and to the Modernist project which the French Revolution initiates.;The Introduction outlines the parameters of this discussion. Just as revolutionary historiography has been concerned with problems of agency and will, so, too, Art History has drawn an unquestioned analogy between artistic motivation and political goals. Section One clarifies the expectations brought to this painting by the audience of 1789. The Brutus was a site on which questions of political allegiance were thrashed out: allegiance to the Royal image, allegiance to current epistemological issues and mostly, allegiance to the enlightened elites of the Royal Academies. Section Two traces a parallel development of David's Brutus and the events of 1787-1789. The Brutus was undoubtedly political in intent, but David's intentions, like his politics, changed month-to-month, even week by week. Section Three raises the question of art's capacity to cause political change, as seen through the Brutus and David's career. The Enlightenment critique of society necessitated a belief in the possibility of change through culture, while denying such change in actuality, whereas the French Revolution affirmed change-within limits. David's Brutus, and David himself, were more the pawns of this ideology than its creators. The Conclusion narrates the author's personal experiences in a politically and culturally charged moment, the events of May, 1968, and draws conclusions applicable to the broader issue of politics and the arts.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
