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Arthur C. Danto “Defective Affinities ‘Primitivism’ in 20 th Century Art” 1. Danto states, “I don’t really think we know the first think about primitive art, not even whether it is right to treat it as art.” What elements of ‘primitive’ and ‘art’ does he question? 2. Danto states, “There is little doubt that primitivism plays the role in twentieth‐century art that Orientalism did in the nineteenth century or that classical forms did in the Renaissance.” Is this an accurate comparison given that primitivism and Orientalism were perspectives of European artists and audiences regarding contemporary people and living cultures throughout the globe, whereas Renaissance artists formed a perspective on antiquity? 3. Why is Danto wrong to criticize the “formalist principles” for looking only at the comparable physical features of objects? 4. Do you agree with Danto’s statement regarding the MOMA show, that “under formalist principles, all works are brothers and contemporaries, but at the cost of sacrificing whatever makes them interesting or vital or important?” 5. Danto states that “the cultures they [the art] came from almost certainly lacked a Western concept of art”, making them “more primitive”, why is he considering them primitive because they lack Western concept? 6. How do our “connotations of primitiveness” (148) color our perceptions and interpretations of primitive art? 7. Why does Danto marry raison d’etre and aesthetics? 8. Danto says “primitive art…was not meant for audiences, viewers, dealers and collectors, but for participants and celebrants.” Does that mean that people outside of the originating culture can ever begin to understand the value and meaning of a piece? Are aesthetics enough? 9. Do you think Danto has a point when he says “I don’t think we really know the first thing about primitive art, not even whether it is right to treat it as art...”? Do you think we have done a better job at interpreting non‐Western art or do you think Danto’s argument would still apply? 10. If « the Rockefeller Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art looks like a detached segment of Bloomingdale’s », what is the best way to display tribal art in a contextualized setting without running the risk of being essentialist ? 11. Why are objects from Africa and Oceania displayed together in most museums ? 12. If primitive art objects are not supposed to be seen in a glass cube in a Museum, does it mean that, in other words, once primitive art is taken away 4
from its origin, it cannot be separated from modernism? “Modernist primitivism” is a sub‐ product of the real “primitivism”? 13. It is obvious that the author has negative feelings toward the exhibition, but doesn’t his lack of faith in the primitive art amongst the “masterpieces” show his disdain toward “primitive art”? 14. Do you agree with Danto's scathing critique of the entire premise of the "Primitivism" MOMA exhibition? 15. How could the MOMA have better displayed the meaning the "tribal" forms had to modernist artists? 16. Was the infamous “Primitivism” MOMA exhibit the result of overenthusiastic ‘marketing’ of a lesser‐appreciated genre (‘primitive’ art) to a larger audience? Was the exhibit a product of its own time period (1984‐85)? 17. Do you believe that Danto’s criticism of Rubin’s MOMA exhibition, “’Primitivism’ in 20 th Century Art” was fully warranted to the extent of suggesting a three‐way failure of presentation – first of primitive art, then of modern art and lastly the relationships of the two combined? 18. Judging by Danto’s article, do you think Rubin’s views on “primitive” art were communicated clearly in the exhibition? Is Danto adverse to Rubin’s views themselves or how they were interpreted in the exhibition? 19. Do we agree with Danto's argument that the pairing of primitive and modern art in exhibits such as “Primitivism” in 20 th Century Art forces misunderstandings of primitive art, modern art, and the relationship between them? 20. Many 20 th century modern artists made use of the tribal art elements and elaborated these elements in modern contents. Their intention of doing so cannot be seen as coincidence. What triggers modern artists to revalue these tribal elements in the early 20 th century? 21. If Picasso drew inspiration from his collection of masks to augment ‘Les Demoiselles d’Avignon’, was he fully aware that these masks held meaning in the “magical connections of tribal existence” (p. 148)? If he intended to reduce his models’ representations down to an essence, was that essence as transcendent as it was ‘primitive’ and, in light of the painting’s original reception, did he succeed? 22. Although Danto speaks of the artists as “changing the subjects to be imitated, copying fragments of reality” (pg. 147), couldn’t one argue that it is the artist’s right to extract meaning and inspiration from a piece and apply it to their own work? 23. Danto seemed to be undermining the field of anthropology, when he wrote, “I don’t think we really know the first thing about primitive art…” But later he 5
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