Ars: časopis Ústavu Dejín Umenia Slovenskej Akadémie Vied (43.2010)

ŠTÚDIE / ARTICLES

ARS 43, 2010, 1

Jan Bialostocki and George Kubier.
In an Attempt to Catch Up with the System

Wojciech BATUS

I.
Tfř o/ begins and ends with an attack
on iconologyf According to George Kubier, the re-
search method appüed in art history which is based
on Cassirer's philosophy of symboüc forms has led
to reductionism and simplihcadons, excludmg from
scrutiny everything that was not associated with
the morphology of a work of art. That is why Jan
Bialostocki's interest in the booklet published by the
American scholar must hâve aroused and continues
to arouse surprise. Sergiusz Michalski referred to this
interest 'Gr o/ TAfoVocÁG
/A A ArAry"In the review

' KUBLER, G.: IA Abzyzc T TAz<?. Rc/czzzrA czz Ac HzAcry cf
TAzzgt. New Haven - London 1962, pp. VILVIII and 127-
128. From the perspective of the present article, Kubler's
critical remarks on the structuralism of the so called Vienna
school are not important. The latter had been described by
MICHALSKI, S.: Strukturanalyse, Gestaltismus und die Kub-
lersche Theorie. Einige Bemerkungen zu ihrer Geschichte
und Abgrenzung. In: VAYER, L. (ed.): TrcAbA Jz zzzcZ*cfc.
Dz'yz'c A A crzVczzy^ A zzzzzz Acnb AThzfc. Mhz A/ WTV Gzzgrcnc
CJ.H.M. Bologna 1982, Vol. 10, pp. 73-74.
The titles of Jan Bialostockl's books and articles have been
quoted here in an abbreviated version:
— Review of George Kubier, TA JApc cf Tz'tzzc. In: TA Hh
BzzAtz'zz, 47, 1965, pp. 135-139 — Review of Kubier;
— TizcA? z bzbrcycA. O tzzzzf/g/bA z zzwczzyz zy Ächz tytzz^z z z'A/zc-
yzyfz [Theory and Art. On Traditions and Invention in the
Theory of Art and Iconography]. Poznan 1961 — TiT;
— AytzzAz z bzzzzzzzArf/cyzzzz. YzzAb y JyA^ ^*ytzz/èz z zyyA c
ty/zzcc [Art and Humanist Thought. Studies in History of
Art and Thought on Art]. Warszawa 1966 — SiMH;
— PzgzAzAA' zyyA c rytzzcc [Fixe Centuries of Thought on Art].
Warszawa 1976 (2"^ ed.) — 5W;

published in TAKir/Bz/AA?, the issue of iconology
naturally takes up quite a lot of space, but the paper
also contains a fair amount of praises of Kubler's
work. One may of course assume that the reviewer
acted in accordance with the simplest possible criti-
cal recipe which boils down to three fundamental
elements: to sum up - to praise - to criticize, and
only decided to sweeten the polemic with little
known words of acceptance an delight. Yet this view
seems to be contradicted by the Polish édition of
the reviewf and above all by the frequency and the
way in which TA TAzf <? of TTw is cited in the articles
and papers dating back to the sixties and seventies.
We learn from them that Kubier is "o/A of /A AzA'yy
- Rc/ABf? z ryzzAyy yc Afzztzz rytzzA [Rehections and Synthèses
from the World of Art]. Warszawa 1978 - RiS I;
- HzAcAz rytzzA gzAczf zzzzzzÁ bzzzzzzzzzz'tfvyzzyA [History of Art
among Other Humanistic Disciplines], Wroclaw 1980
- HSWNH;
- z cbfzzyy zy AAA tyz'zz^z [Symbols and Images in the
World of Art]. Warszawa 1982 - SIO;
- RgfAyc z tpzZcyy yc AzAzz rytzzA. Azzgz [Rehecbons and
Synthèses from the World of Art. Cycle Two]. Warszawa
1987-RtSII;
- TA Aic.mgc c/ Izzzzzgcr. AtzzAA z'zz tA TřzAcry cf Mzt. Wien 1988
-All.
' AIICHALSKI, S.: Jan Bialostocki a ewolucja historii sztuki po
roku 1945 [Jan Bialostocki and the Evolution of Art History
after 1945]. In: POPRZpCKA, M. (ed.):Mrt/czzgzz. Trzzcc Azfy-
Aczy^/zi' y^Aghprc/buztz Bzbfctz'cAz'cgc [Ars longa. Studies
Dedicated to the Memory of Professor Jan Bialostocki].
Warszawa 1999, p. 56.
' BIALOSTOCKI, J.: Ksztalt czasu. Kryzys pojçcia stylu i te-
oria Kublera [The Shape of Time. The Crisis of the Concept
of Style and Kubler's Theory]. In: SiMH, pp. 135-145.

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