The possibility of a Global Art History (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2012 in the subject History - Miscellaneous, grade: A, University of Cambridge, language: English, abstract: Contemporary art is now judged as a historical experience commencing from the end of world war II, in 1945. The current crop of artists is contributing their mite to the highly multifaceted and globalized economy of cultural packages. The year 1945 was turning point, because after the war, and the establishment of American superiority, the cultural political and economic power shifted partially from Europe to the US. It was not surprising because the erstwhile European colonialism also waned considerably. A new generation of artists has evolved around this time, who consistently overturned the existing modernist practices and established new tools for dealing with contemporary art in Europe and North America, leading to what Guy Debord described as "society of the spectacle", which gives prominence to the visual arts, which in turn dictate the various cultural practices, and in general, specify the way people interpret, contest or maneuver contemporary life (Amelia, J., 2006).

Assuming that, post world war II, contemporary arts is now 60 years old, it is indeed a surprise that so much of history has come to pass with such speed and density of events during this short period in world history. This has necessitated the need for developing the capabilities of understanding and appreciating the visual arts since 1945. These facts serve as a vital addition to the existing texts on social, aesthetic and chronological development of contemporary art. Most of these surveys concentrated on the Euro-American art since 1945, with just a little attention to non-European American art developments and history (Amelia, J., 2006).

As art continues to bargain on its affiliation to globalization it wonders what consequences globalization will have on it. We also wonder whether art history could go global, and if so, what it will look like and who would be running the show. This subject will need to cover every aspect of space, travel, national identity and intra-cultural impacts of the day (Amelia, J., 2006).