DOI Artikel:
Włodarczyk, Wojciech: 1989: on the concept of modernism
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52521#0263
Wojciech Włodarczyk
1989. ON THE CONCEPT OF MODERNISM
In art history the importance of divisions based on calendar and specif-
ic dates has been clearly decreasing/ which is why making 1989 my central
point of reference, I must take a more inclusive look at my topic, i.e., the
concept of modernism and changes of its meaning. The concept problema-
tizes, the term puts in order. The meaning of a concept is determined by the
changing proximate words on the mental map, therefore, writes Mieke Bal, it
is a theory in miniature which points, argues Reinhart Koselleck, at a histori-
co-philosophical horizon, and finally, is closely associated with the artistic or
exhibition practice of a given scholar.1 2 When we choose concepts, the emo-
tional aura of the word also plays a crucial role.
In my opinion, the evolution of the concept of modernism reveals the gist
of changes in the Polish art of the last dozen years of the 20th century and
the beginning of the present one, confirming also a well-grounded scheme ac-
cording to which Polish art history has been putting it in order. Even though
statistics show that over the last few decades the concept of modernism did
not appear in published texts too often - the "avant-garde" did, and "art of
resistance/critical art" as well - still, it proved to have the most explanatory
power. I will begin with setting temporal limits.
In 1976, Wiesław Juszczak published an anthology titled Teksty o mala-
rzach. Antologia polskiej krytyki artystycznej 1890-1918 [Texts about Paint-
ers. Anthology of Polish Art Criticism, 1890-1918], and a year later a study
1 This is what I believe myself-1 have been questioning the choice of 1945 as a thresh-
old date in art. History even though it has been commonly accepted. See my essay "Pięć
lat," in: Zaraz po wojnie, eds. J. Kordjak, A. Szewczyk, Warszawa 2015, pp. 32-44. The
same refers to 1989. See my essay "Kiedy zaczęło się 'dzisiaj'? O źródłach sztuki polskiej
lat dziewięćdziesiątych," in: Sztuka dzisiaj, ed. M. Poprzęcka, Warszawa 2002, pp. 27-39.
2 See M. Bal, Traveling Concepts in the Humanities. A Rough Guide, Toronto 2002,-
R. Koselleck, Begriffsgeschichten. Studien zur Semantik und Pragmatik der politischen
und sozialen Sprache, Berlin 2011. Both studies are very different from Władysław Tatar-
kiewicz's approach.
1989. ON THE CONCEPT OF MODERNISM
In art history the importance of divisions based on calendar and specif-
ic dates has been clearly decreasing/ which is why making 1989 my central
point of reference, I must take a more inclusive look at my topic, i.e., the
concept of modernism and changes of its meaning. The concept problema-
tizes, the term puts in order. The meaning of a concept is determined by the
changing proximate words on the mental map, therefore, writes Mieke Bal, it
is a theory in miniature which points, argues Reinhart Koselleck, at a histori-
co-philosophical horizon, and finally, is closely associated with the artistic or
exhibition practice of a given scholar.1 2 When we choose concepts, the emo-
tional aura of the word also plays a crucial role.
In my opinion, the evolution of the concept of modernism reveals the gist
of changes in the Polish art of the last dozen years of the 20th century and
the beginning of the present one, confirming also a well-grounded scheme ac-
cording to which Polish art history has been putting it in order. Even though
statistics show that over the last few decades the concept of modernism did
not appear in published texts too often - the "avant-garde" did, and "art of
resistance/critical art" as well - still, it proved to have the most explanatory
power. I will begin with setting temporal limits.
In 1976, Wiesław Juszczak published an anthology titled Teksty o mala-
rzach. Antologia polskiej krytyki artystycznej 1890-1918 [Texts about Paint-
ers. Anthology of Polish Art Criticism, 1890-1918], and a year later a study
1 This is what I believe myself-1 have been questioning the choice of 1945 as a thresh-
old date in art. History even though it has been commonly accepted. See my essay "Pięć
lat," in: Zaraz po wojnie, eds. J. Kordjak, A. Szewczyk, Warszawa 2015, pp. 32-44. The
same refers to 1989. See my essay "Kiedy zaczęło się 'dzisiaj'? O źródłach sztuki polskiej
lat dziewięćdziesiątych," in: Sztuka dzisiaj, ed. M. Poprzęcka, Warszawa 2002, pp. 27-39.
2 See M. Bal, Traveling Concepts in the Humanities. A Rough Guide, Toronto 2002,-
R. Koselleck, Begriffsgeschichten. Studien zur Semantik und Pragmatik der politischen
und sozialen Sprache, Berlin 2011. Both studies are very different from Władysław Tatar-
kiewicz's approach.