welcome to the Journal of art in society
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The Journal of Art in Society is a website dedicated to exploring interactions between social changes and developments in art – how does art affect society, and how does society affect art?
After starting in 2012, we have grown quickly from just the germ of an idea into a website that regularly attracts thousands of visits each month. We look forward to providing many more new articles to interest and entertain you in the years ahead. The Journal is a permanently-ongoing work in progress so we always welcome your comments or suggestions. Please also contact us if you'd like to be notified when any new articles or major features are added from time to time. |
Here's the latest...
----------------------------------------------------------------------- Newly published! The Art of Giraffe Diplomacy tells the remarkable story of the African giraffe who walked across France and became a pawn in an international power struggle ... here Auction house Christie's has been held liable for substantial damages after selling a fake painting over 10 years ago ... And a world record price has been reported for a landscape photograph...more With the announcement of the safe landing of Rosetta’s probe Philae on Comet 67 / Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it’s a good time to get some historical perspective: check out our Comets in Art article. We review the new Mike Leigh film about the talented but eccentric British painter Mr Turner -- and take a look at Jan Morris' engaging new book on the neglected Venetian painter Vittore Carpaccio ... more --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Our recent articles have examined such varied topics as the strange art pigment made from Egyptian mummies; the link between Toulouse-Lautrec, bicycles and the women's movement; the idiosyncracies of the Italian Futurists; the art of giraffe diplomacy; the colour that caused a "revolution" in Japanese art; three traditional occupations of the night; the Nazi attitude to art; the evolution of the winter landscape; comets; the survival of indigenous art in Patagonia; an art-slashing suffragette's curious journey into Fascism; and the enigmatic painting that has become regarded as an icon of beach culture.
A fuller rundown of what you'll find inside is set out below. You can also check our most popular articles and our country-by-country guide. For articles on particular eras, see our Timeline, and to find particular artists, just use the search box..
Art news and reviews
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Our masthead shows a detail from William Powell Frith’s The Railway Station (1862)
Site last updated: 16 January 2015
A fuller rundown of what you'll find inside is set out below. You can also check our most popular articles and our country-by-country guide. For articles on particular eras, see our Timeline, and to find particular artists, just use the search box..
Art news and reviews
- Our highly selective reviews of art news and recent art-related journal articles.
- Our concise reviews of recent art-related books - and now films as well.
- On the trail of the Last Supper: how depictions of the Last Supper have changed over different cultures and different times
- NEW The art of giraffe diplomacy: How an African giraffe walked across France and became a pawn in an international power struggle.
- NEW The Futurists declare war on pasta: What does one make of an art movement that glorifies war, gets a kick out of steam locomotives and then puts out a cookery book?
- Floating pleasure worlds of Paris and Edo: an analysis of two depictions of pleasure worlds in France and Japan reveals some startling similarities and contrasts
- The emergence of the winter landscape: Bruegel and his predecessors: how the essential elements of a snowy winter landscape ultimately came to fuse in Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow.
- Toulouse-Lautrec, the bicycle and the women's movement: how the 1890s cycling boom inspired a classic Toulouse-Lautrec poster and stimulated the growing movement for women’s rights.
- From the Rokeby Venus to Fascism: in Part 1 we examine the art slashers of the suffragette movement in Britain, and in Part 2 we analyse why some militant suffragettes made the unlikely graduation to Fascism.
- Art and survival in Patagonia; how destroyed Patagonian Indian cultures have lived on through their remarkable rock and body art.
- Surviving the Black Death: how one Italian painter prospered despite one of the worst natural disasters in human history
- The Isenheim Altarpiece: in Part 1 of our exploration of Matthias Grűnewald's extraordinary sixteenth century master-work, we examine its possible role in healing victims of disease; and in a new Part 2 we examine how it became a pawn in a struggle for power between nations - and between radically different conceptions of art
- Julie Manet, Renoir and the Dreyfus Affair: insights into a famous controversy from an unexpected but well-placed source
- The shocking birth and amazing career of Guernica: how Picasso's monumental painting came to be created and assume such extraordinary recognition.
- Watchmen, goldfinders and the plague bearers of the night: how three traditional occupations of the night were perceived -- from the uncomfortable, to the distasteful to the horrific.
- Strange encounters: the collector, the artist and the philosopher: the oddly-productive relationships between the eccentric art collector Albert Barnes, the painter Henri Matisse and the philosopher Bertrand Russell.
- Sarka of the South Seas: A full account of the American watercolourist Charles Sarka’s colourful life, work and travels
- The surprising discovery of an early graphic novel: Charles Sarka and his long-delayed and unexpected claim to fame
- Should artists get royalties?: some recent developments affecting artist royalty rights schemes in Australia and the UK have revived an acute and often acrimonious debate.
- Prussian blue and its partner in crime: while the discovery of Prussian Blue was hailed as a breakthrough for artists, and led to a revolution in Japanese art, its derivatives have killed countless thousands.
- Egyptian Blue: the colour of technology: the unexpected discovery of some remarkable properties of a 4,500 year old pigment may have significant implications for our technological future.
- The life and death of Mummy Brown: the extraordinary story of how the crumbled remains of mummies came to be used by European artists right up to the twentieth century
- Comets in Art: in reflecting changing social attitudes, comets have come to be represented in art in a multitude of ways, from objects of terror and portents of disaster right through to badges of prestige or of divine guidance
- Art in a speeded-up world: how radical changes in the concept of time during the nineteenth century inspired revolutionary changes in literature and art
- Early influences of photography on art: an analysis of the far-reaching impacts that the invention of photography had on nineteenth century painting
- Why wasn’t photography invented earlier? or is this just a case of hindsight bias?
- The origins of an Australian art icon: how some unexpected influences may have played a crucial part in the creation of Charles Meere's iconic Australian Beach Pattern.
- Michelangelo's disputed Entombment: the mysteries that enshroud this controversial painting extend even to the identity of the artist
- Titian, Prudence and the three-headed beast: why has this odd allegorical painting by Titian attracted so many radically-different interpretations?
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Our masthead shows a detail from William Powell Frith’s The Railway Station (1862)
Site last updated: 16 January 2015
