현대미술에 대한 아서 단토의 비평적 논의

Abstract

Arthur Danto has published a series of studies on the problem of the end of art from the middle of 1980’s. He applied the principle of art history to Hegel’s philosophy of history which regards the world history as the development of human spirit through self-consciousness up to the absolute spirit. He argued that art history also is a process to make itself consciousness like the history of human spirit. Then art is confronted by the end because of sublating philosophy. From the end of 1970’s in the Western countries, the end of painting or the death of art were declared here and there. However, what was confronted by the end in Danto’s theory of the end of art is not the art but the history of art. Moreover, it doesn’t mean simply the stop but the completed end. German art historian Hans Belting published The End of Art? at the almost same time. His controversial point in the question mark is the way of existence of art history. He recognized clearly the crucial problem of existing art history which discussed the universal and integrated concept, and urged to throw open from the concept and to establish a new methodology of art history. The crucial problem is in the coexistence of two different paradigms in accordance with the emerging of the concept avant-garde, namely the history of traditional art and the history of modern art. He mentioned that it is impossible to explain the historical development of art in continuity. Post-modern art is pursuing a new contact with the contemporary socio-cultural environment beyond the frame of self-regulating or self-sufficient art. According to Danto, it is impossible to describe anymore the evolutionary history of art in present time of confronting the end of modernism. After modernism art could not have the history leading to the necessity which was inherent in modern art. We should notice the inversion from the analytic philosophy to Hegelian historicism and the dialectical thinking between philosophy and art in Danto’s theory of the end of art. The purpose of this paper is to investigate Danto’s critical argument on contemporary art from the point of his philosophy of art. Then, firstly, I would like to grasp the circumstances of post-historical art, secondly to elucidate his theoretical structure of aesthetic experience, and thirdly to examine the significance of philosophical quality of art and his concept art world.