Florence 2005 - Visit Antique Art
November 2000
ART POLITICAL

Political Art is a theme that has varied through time in sync with political history. The great recent, dawn of 20th-century, rift between what has been called classical and modern Art was started by the social changes brought about by political revolutions in 18th-century Western society. Art had to economically evolve from something only affordable by royalty and the church into a product for its new patrons the middle class, and in doing so change its style and subject. In came Romanticism, Impressionism, Minimalism, ism, ism... Isn't it time for modern Neoclassicism? Art can be purely indirectly political, even "fine" Art. Consider the drawings of Daumier or Goya's work involving the Spanish revolution. Go back further to Gothic times and Art was nothing but the politics of the church. Much modern visual Art expresses the dense flux, confusion, frustration, violence and despair reflective of politics throughout the world today. At the risk of burying my head in the sand, my personal taste leans toward positive statements. The daily news is reminder enough of the world's troubles. Art can be like the "anti -- news"... the good news you never see on TV... "There are indeed some trees still standing and they are beautiful.", for instance. So, either in an indirect or direct way, Art has always been a political instrument perhaps the most clarifying and worthwhile of political instruments.

Steve B. Lance