Art History Is Not Linear

Art History Is Not Linear  |  Ryan McGinness  |  Page Bond Gallery, Richmond  |  Art In America  |  2011

This very graphic statement by Ryan McGinness caught my eye recently, not just because it's a striking design, not just because Mason Williams' Classical Gas started playing in my head, but also because the title really resonates with me.

Years ago I taught illustration to high school graduates at an art institute. As I made references to artists, paintings and styles of the past, I was usually met with blank stares. It finally dawned on me that these young people, who aspired to be professional artists, knew virtually nothing of art history. How could that be!? Has our way of teaching history become so dry and date-heavy that even art students shy from picking up books on art history? The answer is, apparently — yes.

My class evolved into a Liberal Arts course as I continually explained that, while we tend to think of history in a timeline, all art is contemporaneous. It might still be true that a lot of young artists look to whatever is current for inspiration and direction, but the totality of art is a never-ending circle of inspiration.

Pompeian frieze, c. A. D. 79   |   Picasso plate, 1956, Christie's

Alchemy symbol, Middle Ages   |   Joan Miro, 1960

Etruscan figures, c. 750 B. C.   |   Alberto Giacometti, c. 1960, cabanahome.com

Art Nouveau initials, c. 1910   |   Fillmore poster, 1967

Hieronymus Bosch, c. 1500   |   Salvador Dali, 1931

York Minster stained glass, c. 1150   |   Georges Rouault, 1937

I hope you enjoy these comparisons.

I intend to make this posting a page in my sidebar,

and I'll continue to add comparative images.

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