{"id":4893,"date":"2014-02-13T14:12:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T13:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/?p=4893"},"modified":"2015-07-18T10:40:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T08:40:59","slug":"thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking C\u00e9zanne as an open source (now in Madrid)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-4893 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/paul-cezanne1877oil-on-canvas655-x-81-cmwith-frame-85-x-101-x-9-cm\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/aparador.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4894\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4894'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, The buffet, 1877-1879. Oil on canvas, 65,5 x 81 cm, courtesy of Sz\u00e9mpuv\u00e9szeti Muzeum, Budapest.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/felslandschaft-187071\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"122\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/camino.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4895\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4895'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, The forest road, 1870-1871. Oil on canvas, 53,7 x 65 cm, courtesy of Staedel Museum, Frankfurt am Main.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/001-508\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"125\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/campesino.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4896\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4896'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, Portrait of a paesant, 1905-1906. Oil on canvas, 64,8 x 54,6 cm, courtesy of Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/cantarogres\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"123\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/cantarogres.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4897\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4897'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, Stoneware pitcher, 1893-1894. Oil on canvas, 38,2 x 46 cm, courtesy of Fondation Beyeler.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/floresyfrutas\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/floresyfrutas.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4898\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4898'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, Still life with flowers and fruits, c. 1890. Oil on canvas, 66 x 81,5 cm, courtesy of Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Nationalgalerie.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/2014\/02\/13\/thinking-cezanne-as-an-open-source-now-in-madrid\/montana\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"119\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/CFA-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/montana.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-4899\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-4899'>\n\t\t\t\tPaul C\u00e9zanne, Mount Sainte-Victoire, c. 1904. Oil on canvas, 72,2 x 92,4 cm, courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The exhibition<a href=\"http:\/\/www.museothyssen.org\/en\/thyssen\/exposiciones_proximas\/109\" target=\"_blank\"> &#8220;C\u00e9zanne Site \/ Non-Site&#8221;<\/a>, at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid (until 16 May) represents a good opportunity to reflect upon the\u00a0general theories on\u00a0art,\u00a0and\u00a0on the duel, which occurs in every age,\u00a0between\u00a0proponents\u00a0of the new art and supporters\u00a0of the past.<\/p>\n<p>Announcing the exhibition, the museum writes that &#8220;It will explore the relationship between two genres to which C\u00e9zanne devoted an equally intense focus: landscapes and still life. Like the Impressionists, C\u00e9zanne painted his landscapes outdoors but there is no sign of the seasons of the year or times of day in them and the motifs from the natural world are arranged in the manner of a stage set. In contrast, in his still lifes, the artist included the changes and dynamics characteristic of nature, with objects that normally convey stability leaning against each other in a precarious equilibrium&#8221;. This brief description of the work by C\u00e9zanne would be enough to represent the conceptual scope of his work. Yet, although today his art is highly valued, and he is considered to be one of the fathers of modern art, C\u00e9zanne has not always enjoyed a proper appreciation from critics.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>On the contrary, in the early twentieth century, there was an ongoing battle between the supporters of the artist against the traditionalists. While these latter were opposed to the excessive formal abstraction in his works, the former ones regarded C\u00e9zanne as the greatest artist of his time. Among them we find the art critic Clive Bell who, in his famous book &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/catalog\/world\/readfile?fk_files=1506085\" target=\"_blank\">Art<\/a>&#8221; (1913) took the artist as an example to demonstrate the true meaning of art. In agreement with the formalism (of which he was a proponent), Bell argued that the knowledge of the historical context of a painting, or the intention of the painter, is unnecessary for the appreciation of visual art. &#8220;To appreciate a work of art\u201d he wrote \u201cwe need to bring with us nothing from life, no knowledge of its ideas and affairs, no familiarity with its emotions&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It is interesting to observe from our point of view where Bell was wrong and how his mistake is still common today. Bell developed his own theory starting from the work &#8220;Lac d&#8217;Annecy&#8221; by C\u00e9zanne. Attracted by a series of formal characteristics of the artist&#8217;s work (not the subject, but the shape, the colour and the way they were organized), the critic theorized a generalization to answer the question &#8220;What is art? &#8220;. The answer was that \u201cart is\u201d anything that has the formal characteristics that Bell saw in the works by C\u00e9zanne, everything else is therefore &#8220;not art&#8221; &#8211; a close examination of all the accusations that have been levelled against the theory of Bell, can be found <a href=\"http:\/\/books.google.it\/books\/about\/The_Art_Question.html?id=aPEeYgaYrjYC&amp;redir_esc=y\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But the most significant thing to note is how the current debate between proponents and critics of contemporary art has very similar features to the one between formalists and traditionalists in the early twentieth century. This analogy allows us to highlight that is inadvisable to consider a work without taking into account the context in which it was produced and the motivations of the artist.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We certainly can agree with Bell on the appreciation of C\u00e9zanne. If however we use his method for judging all art, then we would lose too much of what has come after C\u00e9zanne. Bell, in fact, had understood the &#8220;software&#8221; of works by C\u00e9zanne. But this does not necessarily mean that the same software could be able to run, for example, the works by Bacon, Richter and Beuys and other prominent contemporary artists.\u00a0Instead of hunting for general theories about art, perhaps, we should learn to work with the open source.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; The exhibition &#8220;C\u00e9zanne Site \/ Non-Site&#8221;, at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid (until 16 May) represents a good opportunity to reflect upon the\u00a0general theories on\u00a0art,\u00a0and\u00a0on the duel, which occurs in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1796],"tags":[1620],"class_list":["post-4893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mapping-the-artscape","tag-paul-cezanne"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conceptualfinearts.com\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}