***  Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive  ***
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   [Date]: Wed, 03 Nov 1999 09:57:51 -0800
   [From]: Susan Marquez <smarq@pacbell.net>
     [To]: Cultural Exchange via Internet <forum1@herz.kbx.de>
[Subject]: Politics and Art

Chris,

I also believe that art can convey political commentary, whether it is
in advocating change, speaking truth to authority, or preserving one's
own image in a commissioned portrait. Thomas Gainsborough's portraits of

the emerging agrarian cultural elite of 18th-century England are
political in the sense that the "prominent" subjects he was
"commissioned" to paint wanted to preserve a certain image of themselves

for posterity---to reflect what they wished others to see--a couple of
very rich powerful people who own land, but are not "aristocrats" like
the upper classes of the preceding centuries. Gainsborough's sometimes
found ways to poke fun at these patrons, by depicting the husband as
frail, or the woman in an overly ornate dress or sitting on an
uncomfortable looking bench. He evoked hypocrisy in the subjects where
he saw it in them. Please see his painting entitled,  "Mr. and Mrs.
Andrews" (c. 1750).

When King Henry VII had his portrait painted by a young talented German
painter, Hans Holbein the Younger, the artist depicted him with beady
eyes and a bloated head, denoted by the smallish hat the king is
wearing. It was the first painting Henry VII ever had Holbein do and is
reputedly Holbein's best work for its technical execution as well as the

subtlety of his critique of King Henry. Holbein was making fun of the
King right under his nose from the beginning of their relationship! King

Henry would have been stuck in a dilemma even if he had been aware: 1)
If King Henry were to notice such commentaries and decided to punish
Holbein, he would be admitting Holbein is a "talented artist." 2) If he
noticed and did nothing to Holbein, then he would be admitting Holbein
was a "greater human being" than the King of England.

Oblique criticism like that in Holben's and Gainsborough's paintings are

prime examples of dissident art and this art tradition has been in
existence wherever there have been autocrats and courageous artists.
Many excellent rather than mediocre examples of good political art exist

even today. Many of those artists have died for it.

May I suggest (humbly) four interesting books on the nature of dissident

art (the first three are mainly about poetry, the novel, and
historiography, but the constructs hold for 2-d and 3-d art). Many of
you may already be familiar with these works:

Leo Strauss: Persecution and the Art of Writing, University of Chicago
Press

James C. Scott: Domination and the Arts of Resistence

Shadi Bartsch: Actors in the audience : Theatricality and Doublespeak
from Nero to Hadrian

Jurgis Baltrusaitis: Anamorphic art

The third author was a great influence on me--Dr. Bartsch was an
associate professor in my department at UC Berkeley (born 1966--young
for a professor, and one of the only women in the department). She was
quite willing and able to descend from the "ivory tower" to teach her
students the importance of exercising critical thinking and judgement,
even in the face of power. Your discussion reminded of how important yet

fragile democracy is. And furthermore, how important public dialogue
truly is to democracy. Let's share our thoughts and information wherever

we can in this forum.

Thank you, Chris.

Susan