Main entry:

Paret, Peter.

Title & Author:

Art as history : episodes in the culture and politics of nineteenth-century Germany / Peter Paret.

Publication:

Description:

vii, 227 pages, 4 leaves of plates : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-224) and index.
History as politics: The History of Frederick the Great by Kugler and Menzel. Liberalism and the Frederician tradition ; The new tasks of historical art ; Menzel's illustrations for Frederick the Great ; Menzel's historicism ; The later history of Frederick the Great -- Fontane's Prussian songs -- The revolution of 1848. The young Rethel ; Menzel's The March casualties lying in state ; Rethel's Another dance of death ; Another dance of death as a social document -- Scheffel and the embourgeoisement of the German middle ages -- Before, during, and after the triumph. From revolution to empire ; The Proclamation of the German empire by Werner ; Fontane's apotheosis of the old Prussia.

Summary:

"Paintings and graphics, novels and poems are historical sources as well as aesthetic objects. Artists themselves become historians when they interpret the pastby painting a historical scene, for instance, or by discussing earlier times in a novel. Artists both reflect and shape their environment. These concepts underlie Peter Paret's new study of Germany in the nineteenth century. The book spans fifty years of German history, from the rise of liberalism in the 1830s to the Franco-Prussian War, German unification, and the fading of liberalism in the new empire. Each chapter treats one or more works of art or literature, and links the background, creation, and impact of these works to the politics of the time. A phase of the Revolution of 1848, for example, is illuminated by Alfred Rethel's woodcuts depicting civil strife as a medieval dance of death; a novel by Theodor Fontane suggests psychological inadequacies as a reason for Prussia's collapse before Napoleon and implies that modern Germany suffers from similar weaknesses. On one level, Art as History is political history seen through the arts. On another level, works of art are discussed for their own sake. By paying attention to the ways society and politics interact with the artist's psychology and intentions, and with the changing characteristics of his discipline, we gain a deeper understanding of his aesthetic achievement. Over a hundred reproductions of works of art and of contemporary newspaper illustrations are closely integrated into the text. Innovative in its fusion of narrative history with aesthetic and intellectual analysis, in its exploration of the interplay of history and the arts, and as a study of the artist in a changing world, the book helps us understand why Germany's vigorous bourgeois culture failed politically, and offers new perspectives on the rise of Prussia-Germany to great and flawed power. Art as History is also being published in a German translation."--Jacket.

Resources:
Publisher description

ISBN:

0691055416 (alk. paper)
9780691055411 (alk. paper)

Subject:

Arts, German 19th century.
History in art.
Politics in art.
Art and history Germany.
Arts Political aspects Germany.
Arts, German.
Arts Allemagne 19e siècle.
Histoire dans l'art.
Politique dans l'art.
Art et histoire Allemagne.
Arts Aspect politique Allemagne.
Arts allemands.
Arts allemands 19e siècle.
histories (visual works)
Art and history.
Arts Political aspects.
Kunst.
Politiek.
Cultuurbeleid.
Arts, Modern 19th century Germany.
Art and history Germany History 19th century.
Arts Political aspects Germany 19th century.
Germany History 1789-1900.
Allemagne Histoire 1789-1900.
Germany.
German arts, history

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 45964
Call No.: ID:89-B5292
Status: Available