Quizzes & Puzzles50 mins ago
What Is Nationalism In Art..
....or indeed anywhwere? Recently, the director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge opined that English landscapes—fields, trees, cows, etc.—could arouse dark nationalistic feelings in those (English) who looked at them, because they might take nationalist pride in that landscape.
Assuming that the English are not for some reason peculiarly susceptible to nationalistic feelings when looking at paintings of the landscape for which they feel a deep affection, the director would seem to be suggesting that landscape is a very dangerous genre, for it is capable of arousing the nationalistic feelings of anyone who comes from the country of the picture. The only safe way to avoid this would be to remove landscapes from all galleries around the world, though it would leave some rather large gaps. Chinese painting, for example, would be virtually annihilated; but this would be a small price to pay to help avoid the dangers of nationalism, would it not?
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I think you would have to have nationalist feelings already to have them aroused by a piece of art.
I get no stirrings of 'nationalist feeling' over any art, be it seeing a Constable, or hearing Jerusalem.
The idea of banning art on this basis is facile, based on a flawed idea by someone with too much time on their hands.
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