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Abstract
A history of the visual arts, defined simply as a chronological description of the various objects we now classify as art, would be a pretty marginal affair, probably of less general interest than a history of machinery, or a history of clothing. It would certainly be a history that remained on the fringes of what most people recognise as the central concerns of life. A history of art begins to look a little more interesting where it claims that art has a symbolic value, and that visual artefacts reflect important attitudes and ‘realities’ of the society in which they were produced.
The authentication and dating of brushstrokes? An analysis of the development of style? A chronicle of patronage and taste? A focus of debate about definitions of culture? A gloss on connoisseurship? A reflection of the realities of society? What isthe history of art?
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Authors and Affiliations
Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, UK
Alex Potts (Principal Lecturer in the History of Art)
Courtauld Institute, University of London, UK
John House (Lecturer in History of Art)
Warburg Institute, University of London, UK
Charles Hope (Lecturer in Renaissance Studies)
University College, London, UK
Tom Gretton (Lecturer in History of Art)
- Alex Potts
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- John House
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- Charles Hope
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- Tom Gretton
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© 1988 Macmillan Publishers Limited
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Potts, A., House, J., Hope, C., Gretton, T. (1988). What is the History of Art … ?. In: Gardiner, J. (eds) What is History Today … ?. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-19161-1_9
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Online ISBN:978-1-349-19161-1
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