Subscribe
Search
ePaper
Newsletters
Subscribe
ePaper
Newsletters
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Art market
Museums & heritage
Exhibitions
Books
Podcasts
Columns
Technology
Adventures with Van Gogh
Search
Exhibitions
archive

Winckelmann's impact on modern concepts of art history is celebrated in Weimar

The man who wrote art history is remembered 300 years after his birth

Donald Lee
31 March 2017
Share
Anton von Maron’s portrait of Johann Winckelmann in luxurious undress (1768). An engraving of Antinous, a favourite of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, is before him.

Anton von Maron’s portrait of Johann Winckelmann in luxurious undress (1768). An engraving of Antinous, a favourite of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, is before him.

To celebrate the tercentenary of the birth of Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-68), the first scholar systematically to write art history as a succession of styles, the Neues Museum in Weimar, Germany is holding an exhibition on his work. Winckelmann: Modern Antiquity (7 April-2 July), organised by the Klassik Stiftung in Weimar and the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, includes more than 200 exhibits surveying his achievements .

Winckelmann’s 1764 book The History of Art in Antiquity claimed classical Greek sculpture as the genesis of all subsequent art and the canonical standard of artistic perfection, which powerfully influenced later European thought and art, especially Neo-Classicism. (His phrase, “edle Einfalt und stille Grösse”—noble simplicity and quiet grandeur—could be the slogan of Neo-Classical style.) His writings, which have a strong current of homoeroticism, corresponded with and resulted from Enlightenment thought and had a long afterlife in the works of the thinkers like Lessing and Goethe. Included in the exhibition will be contemporary works by artists such as Bettina Rheims, who has made work with Winckelmann in mind.

Originally appeared in The Art Newspaper as 'The man who wrote art history'

ExhibitionsArt history18th century Neues Museum WeimarJohann Joachim Winckelmann
Share
Subscribe to The Art Newspaper’s digital newsletter for your daily digest of essential news, views and analysis from the international art world delivered directly to your inbox.
Newsletter sign-up
Information
About
Contact
Cookie policy
Data protection
Privacy policy
Frequently Asked Questions
Subscription T&Cs
Terms and conditions
Advertise
Sister Papers
Sponsorship policy
Follow us
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube
LinkedIn
© The Art Newspaper