Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Contemporary Enthusiasm

February 14, 2011 by Marion Maneker

There’s no love lost between Sarah Thornton and art historians in her ArtForum Diary entry for this Valentine’s Day. She was at the US convention of academic art historians, the CAA, moderating a panel on Damien Hirst when one hoary professor complained about Contemporary art’s beguiling appeal:

“Maybe we should drop the word ‘history’ from ‘art history,’ ” declared Patricia Mainardi, a professor from CUNY’s Graduate Center. She was regaling a standing-room-only crowd last Thursday during her opening remarks for “The Crisis in Art History,” a panel she had convened for the annual College Art Association conference, which took place over four days at the Hilton in Midtown Manhattan. Mainardi, an art historian recognized for her work on nineteenth-century Europe, deplores the fact that eight out of ten art history grad students are now studying contemporary. Why do they? The global economy, explained Mainardi, is like a “sun whose magnetic attraction pulls other bodies out of alignment.” […] Yet, for those of us who stick to writing, researching, or teaching contemporary art, the global economy is less a motivator than an object of study. And the fast pace of change means that, like it or not, 2008 is history.

Search Party (Scene&Herd/ArtForum)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • It’s “not about the world discovering African art, it’s about Africa discovering art”It’s “not about the world discovering African art, it’s about Africa discovering art”
  • Fond Farewell to UK Nat'l Gallery's Chief RestorerFond Farewell to UK Nat'l Gallery's Chief Restorer
  • Vernissage TV: Art Basel 40Vernissage TV: Art Basel 40
  • Lost Bacon Pope Painting to Star at Christie’sLost Bacon Pope Painting to Star at Christie’s
  • Christie’s Paris Celebrates Michel TapiéChristie’s Paris Celebrates Michel Tapié
  • How Should Museums Sell?How Should Museums Sell?

Filed Under: Critics

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • Restituted Van Gogh Portrait from London Collection to Sell at Christie’s
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Vienna Secession Painting, Long Thought to Be Lost, Sets a Record at Auction
  • $10 M. Picasso Portrait Unseen for Decades to Sell at Bonhams
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie’s to Sell Its First Fully Digital Work of Art in Test of Emerging Market
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor