Did the History of Art End? An Anthology of Contemporary Western Art Historiography

Author: Hans Belting
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1999-08-01
Features: The "Experиментal Art Series" focuses on the spirit of exploration, experimentation, and innovation that has been prevalent in world art since the 20th century (especially after 1960). Through the publication of works, essays, reviews, biographies, and interviews, it showcases experimental achievements in various fields such as fine arts, literature, film, theater, music, architecture, and photography, while also presenting the social and cultural contexts that gave rise to these achievements. The series has been published intermittently since 1992, aiming to provide textual references and theoretical research opportunities for contemporary Chinese art workers. Since the 1980s, under the influence of the broader context of contemporary Western academia, the development of the discipline of art history in the West has undergone some new changes. This is primarily reflected in three aspects: the research objects of art history are no longer limited to "high art" but have expanded to include "low art"; the scope of art history research is no longer limited to Western art but has expanded to include non-Western art; and the research methods of art history are no longer limited to the theories and methods of the discipline itself but have expanded to incorporate methods and theoretical systems from other related humanities disciplines, such as hermeneutics, semiotics, and feminism. This means that traditional art history research will come to an end, and a new "pan-culturalism" art history is forming.