When works of art began to be introduced at public exhibits in London and Paris in the second half of the eighteenth century, a new type of artist emerged -- the "exhibition artist". This book investigates the history of the modern artist whose new connections with the exhibition of art in institutional settings profoundly changed the definition of art, the artist's view of himself, the problems of the artist, and the artist's social status. Oskar Batschmann explores the rise of the modern artist from the development of the first exhibition pictures by John Singleton Copley and Benjamin West to the innovations of the twentieth-century star-artists like Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol who themselves became exhibition objects.The artist's world changed when those who were involved with exhibitions began to take over the functions of critiquing and defining art from those who had previously commissioned art -- courts and the church. Batschmann shows how art exhibition pioneers undertook new artistic tasks: to assert themselves in the face of competition, to become the talk of the town, to attract the public, and to procure an income for themselves. These tasks introduced an array of new problems for artists, from questions about artistic freedom to the social duty of the artist, from the identification of artists as the avant-garde of society and art to the latent aggression of the public and art critics. In his examination of 250 years of art history, the author uncovers reciprocal relations between the production of art and its representation, between exhibitions and an aggressive cheering public, and between animosity toward the artist and admiration. The final chapter of the bookpresents a fascinating selection of largely unknown writings from the eighteenth through twentieth centuries dealing with the history and problems of exhibition artists.
- ISBN10 0300073232
- ISBN13 9780300073232
- Publish Date 30 March 1998
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 14 November 2003
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Yale University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 342
- Language English