A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art
This article deals with the ‘primitivist’ sources of European modern art, with a focus on Eastern European artists, including some who later developed their careers in the West. These artists are regarded as atypical but relevant cases of modernist legacies, yet their contribution is less studied be...
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| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Meno Istorija ir Kritika |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.2478/mik-2024-0002 |
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| author | Văetişi Șerban |
| author_facet | Văetişi Șerban |
| author_sort | Văetişi Șerban |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article deals with the ‘primitivist’ sources of European modern art, with a focus on Eastern European artists, including some who later developed their careers in the West. These artists are regarded as atypical but relevant cases of modernist legacies, yet their contribution is less studied because of their non-Western European backgrounds. Their early artistic careers were influenced by the local folk and naïve style and motifs of their rural homelands, but they later transmuted their ‘primitivist style’, adopting the fashionable exotic, mostly African, motifs of the Western modernist schools when they moved to the West (typically, France), connected themselves with the modernist movement and received recognition. Unlike the perspective usually adopted by art criticism, this article suggests a heritage studies approach: it firstly conceptualises and considers how one type of heritage primitivism is subsumed to another in this complex artistic formation, and then problematises this dissonant legacy of their work. It is argued that in the field of cultural heritage debate, we need to extend the concept of dissonant heritage to discuss the dual concept of local/exotic heritage, while critically reassessing the uses of primitivism in its authenticist vs. assimilationist ideological intentions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d0e481c7fb0d44598f6ddc5454b7e86e |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1822-4547 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Meno Istorija ir Kritika |
| spelling | doaj-art-d0e481c7fb0d44598f6ddc5454b7e86e2025-08-20T02:18:00ZengSciendoMeno Istorija ir Kritika1822-45472024-12-01201153110.2478/mik-2024-0002A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern ArtVăetişi Șerban01Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoka, RomaniaThis article deals with the ‘primitivist’ sources of European modern art, with a focus on Eastern European artists, including some who later developed their careers in the West. These artists are regarded as atypical but relevant cases of modernist legacies, yet their contribution is less studied because of their non-Western European backgrounds. Their early artistic careers were influenced by the local folk and naïve style and motifs of their rural homelands, but they later transmuted their ‘primitivist style’, adopting the fashionable exotic, mostly African, motifs of the Western modernist schools when they moved to the West (typically, France), connected themselves with the modernist movement and received recognition. Unlike the perspective usually adopted by art criticism, this article suggests a heritage studies approach: it firstly conceptualises and considers how one type of heritage primitivism is subsumed to another in this complex artistic formation, and then problematises this dissonant legacy of their work. It is argued that in the field of cultural heritage debate, we need to extend the concept of dissonant heritage to discuss the dual concept of local/exotic heritage, while critically reassessing the uses of primitivism in its authenticist vs. assimilationist ideological intentions.https://doi.org/10.2478/mik-2024-0002primitivismmodern artcultural heritagedissonant heritagewestern cultureeastern europeafrica |
| spellingShingle | Văetişi Șerban A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art Meno Istorija ir Kritika primitivism modern art cultural heritage dissonant heritage western culture eastern europe africa |
| title | A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art |
| title_full | A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art |
| title_fullStr | A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art |
| title_short | A Challenge to Local Primitivism in Eastern European Cultures: the African ‘Exotic Heritage’ in Modern Art |
| title_sort | challenge to local primitivism in eastern european cultures the african exotic heritage in modern art |
| topic | primitivism modern art cultural heritage dissonant heritage western culture eastern europe africa |
| url | https://doi.org/10.2478/mik-2024-0002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vaetisiserban achallengetolocalprimitivismineasterneuropeanculturestheafricanexoticheritageinmodernart AT vaetisiserban challengetolocalprimitivismineasterneuropeanculturestheafricanexoticheritageinmodernart |