modern art and the life of culture by jonathan a. anderson and william a. dyrness - excerpt

38
8/17/2019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/modern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1/38 MODERN  ART  AND  THE LIFE OF  A CULTURE THE RELIGIOUS IMPULSES OF MODERNISM STUDIES  in THEOLOGY and the  ARTS Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness

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Page 1: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 138

MODERN ART AND THE LIFE OF

A CULTURE

T HE RE L IG IOUS

IM P UL S E S OF

M ODE RNIS M

STUDIES i n

THEOLOGY

and the ARTS

Jonathan A Anderson

and William A Dyrness

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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InerVarsiy Press

PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094

ivpresscomemailivpresscom

copy983090983088983089983094 by Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy Press

InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o sudens and

aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes o America and a

member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou local and regional aciviies

visi inervarsiyorg

All Scripure quoaions unless oherwise indicaed are aken om HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL

VERSION reg NIV reg Copyrigh copy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All righs reserved worldwide

Cover design David Fasset

Inerior design Beh McGill

Images A Shower o Eyes by Jan Groneberg (Conemporary Aris) Privae Collecion Bridgeman Images

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983091983093-983093 (prin)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983097983095-983093 (digial)

Prined in he Unied Saes o America

As a member o he Green Press Iniiaive InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmenand o he responsible use o naural resources o learn more visi greenpressiniiaiveorg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names Anderson Jonahan A 983089983097983095983095- auhor | Dyrness William A auhor

ile Modern ar and he lie o a culure he religious impulses o

modernism Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

Descripion Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983089983094 | Series Sudies

in Teology and he Ars | Includes bibliographical reerences and index

Idenifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091 (prin) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983096983093983092983090 (ebook) | ISBN

983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983091983093983093 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983097983095983093 (eBook)

Subjecs LCSH Modernism (Ar)--Temes moives | Chrisianiy and ar |

Rookmaaker H R (Hendrik Roelo) 983089983097983090983090-983089983097983095983095 Modern ar and he deah o

a culure

Classificaion LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 A983093983091 983090983088983089983094 (prin) | LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 (ebook) | DDC

983090983094983089983093983095--dc983090983091

LC record available a htplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091

P 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983094 983091983093 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

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Contents

Preace 1048633

P983137983154983156 O983150983141 C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 C983151983150983156983141983160983156983155

852017 Inroducion Religion and he Discourse o Modernism 8520171048631

852018 H R Rookmaaker Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure 10486281048632

P983137983154983156 T983159983151 G983141983151983143983154983137983152983144983145983141983155 H983145983155983156983151983154983145983141983155 983137983150983140 E983150983139983151983157983150983156983141983154983155

852019 France Briain and he Sacramenal Image 10486321048633

1048628 Germany Holland and Norhern Romanic heology 8520171048628852018

1048629 Russian Icons Dada Liurgies and Rumors o Nihilism 85201710486331048631

1048630 Norh America and he Expressive Image 8520181048628852018

1048631 Norh America in he Age o Mass Media 85201810486321048628

Epilogue 8520198520181048631

Aerword So Wha by Daniel A Siedell 8520198520191048624

Bibliography 8520198520191048633

Illusraions 8520191048630852017

General Index 85201910486301048628

Scripure Index 85201910486311048629

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 938

Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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InerVarsiy Press

PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094

ivpresscomemailivpresscom

copy983090983088983089983094 by Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy Press

InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o sudens and

aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes o America and a

member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou local and regional aciviies

visi inervarsiyorg

All Scripure quoaions unless oherwise indicaed are aken om HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL

VERSION reg NIV reg Copyrigh copy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All righs reserved worldwide

Cover design David Fasset

Inerior design Beh McGill

Images A Shower o Eyes by Jan Groneberg (Conemporary Aris) Privae Collecion Bridgeman Images

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983091983093-983093 (prin)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983097983095-983093 (digial)

Prined in he Unied Saes o America

As a member o he Green Press Iniiaive InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmenand o he responsible use o naural resources o learn more visi greenpressiniiaiveorg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names Anderson Jonahan A 983089983097983095983095- auhor | Dyrness William A auhor

ile Modern ar and he lie o a culure he religious impulses o

modernism Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

Descripion Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983089983094 | Series Sudies

in Teology and he Ars | Includes bibliographical reerences and index

Idenifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091 (prin) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983096983093983092983090 (ebook) | ISBN

983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983091983093983093 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983097983095983093 (eBook)

Subjecs LCSH Modernism (Ar)--Temes moives | Chrisianiy and ar |

Rookmaaker H R (Hendrik Roelo) 983089983097983090983090-983089983097983095983095 Modern ar and he deah o

a culure

Classificaion LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 A983093983091 983090983088983089983094 (prin) | LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 (ebook) | DDC

983090983094983089983093983095--dc983090983091

LC record available a htplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091

P 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983094 983091983093 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Contents

Preace 1048633

P983137983154983156 O983150983141 C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 C983151983150983156983141983160983156983155

852017 Inroducion Religion and he Discourse o Modernism 8520171048631

852018 H R Rookmaaker Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure 10486281048632

P983137983154983156 T983159983151 G983141983151983143983154983137983152983144983145983141983155 H983145983155983156983151983154983145983141983155 983137983150983140 E983150983139983151983157983150983156983141983154983155

852019 France Briain and he Sacramenal Image 10486321048633

1048628 Germany Holland and Norhern Romanic heology 8520171048628852018

1048629 Russian Icons Dada Liurgies and Rumors o Nihilism 85201710486331048631

1048630 Norh America and he Expressive Image 8520181048628852018

1048631 Norh America in he Age o Mass Media 85201810486321048628

Epilogue 8520198520181048631

Aerword So Wha by Daniel A Siedell 8520198520191048624

Bibliography 8520198520191048633

Illusraions 8520191048630852017

General Index 85201910486301048628

Scripure Index 85201910486311048629

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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InerVarsiy Press

PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094

ivpresscomemailivpresscom

copy983090983088983089983094 by Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy Press

InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o sudens and

aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes o America and a

member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou local and regional aciviies

visi inervarsiyorg

All Scripure quoaions unless oherwise indicaed are aken om HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL

VERSION reg NIV reg Copyrigh copy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All righs reserved worldwide

Cover design David Fasset

Inerior design Beh McGill

Images A Shower o Eyes by Jan Groneberg (Conemporary Aris) Privae Collecion Bridgeman Images

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983091983093-983093 (prin)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983097983095-983093 (digial)

Prined in he Unied Saes o America

As a member o he Green Press Iniiaive InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmenand o he responsible use o naural resources o learn more visi greenpressiniiaiveorg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names Anderson Jonahan A 983089983097983095983095- auhor | Dyrness William A auhor

ile Modern ar and he lie o a culure he religious impulses o

modernism Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

Descripion Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983089983094 | Series Sudies

in Teology and he Ars | Includes bibliographical reerences and index

Idenifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091 (prin) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983096983093983092983090 (ebook) | ISBN

983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983091983093983093 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983097983095983093 (eBook)

Subjecs LCSH Modernism (Ar)--Temes moives | Chrisianiy and ar |

Rookmaaker H R (Hendrik Roelo) 983089983097983090983090-983089983097983095983095 Modern ar and he deah o

a culure

Classificaion LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 A983093983091 983090983088983089983094 (prin) | LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 (ebook) | DDC

983090983094983089983093983095--dc983090983091

LC record available a htplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091

P 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983094 983091983093 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Contents

Preace 1048633

P983137983154983156 O983150983141 C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 C983151983150983156983141983160983156983155

852017 Inroducion Religion and he Discourse o Modernism 8520171048631

852018 H R Rookmaaker Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure 10486281048632

P983137983154983156 T983159983151 G983141983151983143983154983137983152983144983145983141983155 H983145983155983156983151983154983145983141983155 983137983150983140 E983150983139983151983157983150983156983141983154983155

852019 France Briain and he Sacramenal Image 10486321048633

1048628 Germany Holland and Norhern Romanic heology 8520171048628852018

1048629 Russian Icons Dada Liurgies and Rumors o Nihilism 85201710486331048631

1048630 Norh America and he Expressive Image 8520181048628852018

1048631 Norh America in he Age o Mass Media 85201810486321048628

Epilogue 8520198520181048631

Aerword So Wha by Daniel A Siedell 8520198520191048624

Bibliography 8520198520191048633

Illusraions 8520191048630852017

General Index 85201910486301048628

Scripure Index 85201910486311048629

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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InerVarsiy Press

PO Box 983089983092983088983088 Downers Grove IL 983094983088983093983089983093-983089983092983090983094

ivpresscomemailivpresscom

copy983090983088983089983094 by Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

All righs reserved No par o his book may be reproduced in any orm wihou writen permission om InerVarsiy Press

InerVarsiy Pressreg is he book-publishing division o InerVarsiy Chrisian FellowshipUSAreg a movemen o sudens and

aculy acive on campus a hundreds o universiies colleges and schools o nursing in he Unied Saes o America and a

member movemen o he Inernaional Fellowship o Evangelical Sudens For inormaion abou local and regional aciviies

visi inervarsiyorg

All Scripure quoaions unless oherwise indicaed are aken om HE HOLY BIBLE NEW INERNAIONAL

VERSION reg NIV reg Copyrigh copy 983089983097983095983091 983089983097983095983096 983089983097983096983092 983090983088983089983089 by Biblica Inctrade Used by permission All righs reserved worldwide

Cover design David Fasset

Inerior design Beh McGill

Images A Shower o Eyes by Jan Groneberg (Conemporary Aris) Privae Collecion Bridgeman Images

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983093983089983091983093-983093 (prin)

ISBN 983097983095983096-983088-983096983091983088983096-983097983097983097983095-983093 (digial)

Prined in he Unied Saes o America

As a member o he Green Press Iniiaive InerVarsiy Press is commited o proecing he environmenand o he responsible use o naural resources o learn more visi greenpressiniiaiveorg

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names Anderson Jonahan A 983089983097983095983095- auhor | Dyrness William A auhor

ile Modern ar and he lie o a culure he religious impulses o

modernism Jonahan A Anderson and William A Dyrness

Descripion Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983089983094 | Series Sudies

in Teology and he Ars | Includes bibliographical reerences and index

Idenifiers LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091 (prin) | LCCN 983090983088983089983094983088983088983096983093983092983090 (ebook) | ISBN

983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983093983089983091983093983093 (pbk alk paper) | ISBN 983097983095983096983088983096983091983088983096983097983097983097983095983093 (eBook)

Subjecs LCSH Modernism (Ar)--Temes moives | Chrisianiy and ar |

Rookmaaker H R (Hendrik Roelo) 983089983097983090983090-983089983097983095983095 Modern ar and he deah o

a culure

Classificaion LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 A983093983091 983090983088983089983094 (prin) | LCC N983094983092983097983092M983094983092 (ebook) | DDC

983090983094983089983093983095--dc983090983091

LC record available a htplccnlocgov983090983088983089983094983088983088983095983097983091983091

P 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094 983089983093 983089983092 983089983091 983089983090 983089983089 983089983088 983097 983096 983095 983094 983093 983092 983091 983090 983089

Y 983091983094 983091983093 983091983092 983091983091 983091983090 983091983089 983091983088 983090983097 983090983096 983090983095 983090983094 983090983093 983090983092 983090983091 983090983090 983090983089 983090983088 983089983097 983089983096 983089983095 983089983094

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Contents

Preace 1048633

P983137983154983156 O983150983141 C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 C983151983150983156983141983160983156983155

852017 Inroducion Religion and he Discourse o Modernism 8520171048631

852018 H R Rookmaaker Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure 10486281048632

P983137983154983156 T983159983151 G983141983151983143983154983137983152983144983145983141983155 H983145983155983156983151983154983145983141983155 983137983150983140 E983150983139983151983157983150983156983141983154983155

852019 France Briain and he Sacramenal Image 10486321048633

1048628 Germany Holland and Norhern Romanic heology 8520171048628852018

1048629 Russian Icons Dada Liurgies and Rumors o Nihilism 85201710486331048631

1048630 Norh America and he Expressive Image 8520181048628852018

1048631 Norh America in he Age o Mass Media 85201810486321048628

Epilogue 8520198520181048631

Aerword So Wha by Daniel A Siedell 8520198520191048624

Bibliography 8520198520191048633

Illusraions 8520191048630852017

General Index 85201910486301048628

Scripure Index 85201910486311048629

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Contents

Preace 1048633

P983137983154983156 O983150983141 C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 C983151983150983156983141983160983156983155

852017 Inroducion Religion and he Discourse o Modernism 8520171048631

852018 H R Rookmaaker Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure 10486281048632

P983137983154983156 T983159983151 G983141983151983143983154983137983152983144983145983141983155 H983145983155983156983151983154983145983141983155 983137983150983140 E983150983139983151983157983150983156983141983154983155

852019 France Briain and he Sacramenal Image 10486321048633

1048628 Germany Holland and Norhern Romanic heology 8520171048628852018

1048629 Russian Icons Dada Liurgies and Rumors o Nihilism 85201710486331048631

1048630 Norh America and he Expressive Image 8520181048628852018

1048631 Norh America in he Age o Mass Media 85201810486321048628

Epilogue 8520198520181048631

Aerword So Wha by Daniel A Siedell 8520198520191048624

Bibliography 8520198520191048633

Illusraions 8520191048630852017

General Index 85201910486301048628

Scripure Index 85201910486311048629

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1338

Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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PART 1

CRITICAL

CONTEXTS

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2138

Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2238

1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3138

Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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1

Introduction

Religion and the Discourse of Modernism

God is almos always he wrong word when i comes o modern ar andevery viewer has o find her own way among he oher opions

J983137983149983141983155 E983148983147983145983150983155983089

Le us say his clearly our modern secular discourse emerges om a

Chrisian conex ha conemporary discussions o ar ignore because

hey race he roos o he discourse on ar only o Kan and o he

European classificaion o he fine ars ha emerged in he eigheenh

cenury ofen ignoring he broadly religious conex in which even

ancien sources were embedded in he Early Modern discourse

D983151983150983137983148983140 P983154983141983162983145983151983155983145 983137983150983140 C983148983137983145983154983141 F9831379831549831379831439831511048626

Wha use did he aris make o picorial radiion wha orms wha

schemaa enabled he painer o see and o depic I is ofen seen as he

only quesion I is cerainly a crucial one bu when one wries he social

hisory o ar one is bound o see i in a differen ligh one is concerned

wih wha prevens represenaion as much as wha allows i one sudies

blindness as much as vision

T J C9831489831379831549831471048627

1Elkins Picures amp ears A Hisory o People Who Have Cried in Fron o Painings (New YorkRouledge 9830909830889830881048625) 1048625983097983093

2Preziosi and Farago Ar Is No Wha You Tink I Is (Malden MA Wiley-Blackwell 9830909830881048625983090) x3Clark Image o he People Gusave Courbe and he 983089983096983092983096 Revoluion (London Tames amp Hudson1048625983097983095983091) 1048625983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1138

Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1538

Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 8: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983089983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Publishing a book ha explores he religious (paricularly Chrisian) influ-

ences and impulses running hrough modern ar may seem an ac o olly or

hubris During he rise o high modernism991252which we will ake o exendroughly rom 983089983096983088983088 o 983089983097983095983088991252he muual influences and connecions beween

visual ar and Chrisianiy are no obvious a leas no in mos hisories o he

modern period In ac rom reading he academic lieraure on his period

one migh believe ha religion played almos no consrucive role a all in he

developmen o modern ar oher han as adversary and rival Indeed he

dominan narraives o modern ar porray i as achieving a progressive inde-

pendence rom religious influence even as i usurped roles once confined oradiional religion In hese pages we wan o cones and revise his narraive

In par his narraive ress on a more sweeping sory o secularizaion which

has in recen years come under atack991252so i makes sense or us o begin our

accoun here Nearly all quarers o academia oday are grappling wih wha

appears o be a ldquoreurn o religionrdquo In he lae 983089983097983097983088s he sociologis o religion

Peer Berger published his repudiaion o ldquosecularizaion heoryrdquo991252he

hypohesis ha modernizaion implies and produces a decline o religion in boh social insiuions and individual belie991252conending ha conrary o his

own predicions he modern world is in ac desecularizing1048628 Te wo excep-

ions he idenified (he primary spheres in which he secularizaion hesis sill

holds descripive power) were wesern Europe and he elie ldquoinernaional

subculurerdquo o higher educaion1048629 Bu in he nearly wo decades since Bergerrsquos

aricle firs appeared even hese excepions no longer align wih he heory

Much o he pressure ha has challenged secularizaion heory has been

hisorical and sociological he hesis simply doesnrsquo describe wha has hap-

pened in he world over he pas ew decades nor does i square wih curren

sociodemographic projecions or he coming decades983094 So i seems ha some

4See Berger ldquoSecularism in Rereardquo Naional Ineres 9830921048630 (Winer 10486259830979830971048630ndash1048625983097983097983095) 983091-1048625983090 Bergerrsquos essay was subsequenly adaped and republished as ldquoTe Desecularizaion o he World A Global Over- viewrdquo in Te Desecularizaion o he World Resurgen Religion and World Poliics ed Peer L Berger(Washingon DC Ehics and Public Policy Cener Grand Rapids Eerdmans 1048625983097983097983097) 1048625-1048625983096 See alsoRodney Sark ldquoSecularizaion RIPrdquo Sociology o Religion 1048630983088 no 983091 (Fall 1048625983097983097983097) 983090983092983097-983095983091

5Berger ldquoDesecularizaion o he Worldrdquo 983097-1048625983088 Regarding he influence o academia he coninuesldquoWhile is members are relaively hin on he ground hey are very influenial as hey conrol heinsiuions ha provide he lsquoofficialrsquo definiions o realiy noably he educaional sysem hemedia o mass communicaion and he higher reaches o he legal sysemrdquo (1048625983088) Indeed ldquohe plau-sibiliy o secularizaion heory owes much o his inernaional subculurerdquo (10486251048625)

6See or example Eric Kaumann Shall he Religious Inheri he Earh Demography and Poliics in

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1338

Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1538

Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 9: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983089983097

significan blind spos were inrinsic o he heory which have corresponded

wih some serious misundersandings abou he ongoing influence o religious

lie wihin moderniy As some scholars have recenly argued ldquowhaever hecauses o his scholarly inatenion o religion991252and hey are many and varied991252

he consequences are clear enough some o he mos imporan eaures o

modern lie have been misapprehended or ignored enirelyrdquo1048631 Alongside his

pressure rom sociology here has also been a gradual and decisive unraveling

o he hisorical philosophical and heoreical abric o secularizaion heory1048632

I has become eviden ha ldquosecularizaion has been as much lsquoa programrsquo as i has

been an empirically observable realiyrdquo1048633

991252a program ueled by quesionablepremises and mainained hrough selecive fields o vision I is becoming in-

creasingly he case ha undersanding moderniy as ldquoa sraighorward nar-

raive o progress rom he religious o he secular is no longer accepablerdquo9830891048624

While his does no imply a reurn o religious belie on he par o mos

scholars i does mean ha religious belie and pracice are back on he able

wih a visibiliy ha hey have no had or decades boh as objecs o sudy

and as resources or hinking and inquiring In January 1048626983088983088983093 Sanley Fish re-

couned in Te Chronicle o Higher Educaion

When Jacques Derrida died [in Ocober 1048626983088983088983092] I was called by a reporer who

waned o know wha would succeed high heory and he riumvirae o race

gender and class as he cener o inellecual energy in he academy I answered

he weny-Firs Cenury (London Profile Books 98309098308810486251048625) See also coauhored essays by EricKaumann Anne Goujon and Vegard Skirbekk ldquoSecularism Fundamenalism or CaholicismTe Religious Composiion o he Unied Saes o 983090983088983092983091rdquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion

983092983097 no 983090 (June 9830909830881048625983088) 983090983097983091-9830911048625983088 and ldquoTe End o Secularizaion in Europe A Socio-DemographicPerspeciverdquo Sociology o Religion 983095983091 no 1048625 (Spring 9830909830881048625983090) 1048630983097-9830971048625

7Philip S Gorski David Kyuman Kim John orpey and Jonahan VanAnwerpen ldquoTe Pos-Secular in Quesionrdquo in Te Pos-Secular in Quesion Religion in Conemporary Sociey ed PhilipS Gorski (Brooklyn Social Science Research Council 9830909830881048625983090) 983093

8See or example Charles aylor A Secular Age (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 983090983088983088983095) esp par 983092 See also David Sorkin Te Religious Enlighenmen Proesans Jews andCaholics fom London o Vienna (Princeon NJ Princeon Universiy Press 98309098308810486251048625) Nigel AsonChrisianiy and Revoluionary Europe 983089983095983093983088ndash983089983096983091983088 (Cambridge Cambridge Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091)idem Ar and Religion in Eigheenh-Cenury Europe (London Reakion Books 983090983088983088983097) and Jona-han Sheehan Te Enlighenmen Bible ranslaion Scholarship Culure (Princeon NJ PrinceonUniversiy Press 983090983088983088983095)

9Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309210alal Asad Formaions o he Secular Chrisianiy Islam Moderniy (Sanord CA Sanord

Universiy Press 983090983088983088983091) 1048625 And more recenly see Brad S Gregory Te Uninended ReormaionHow a Religious Revoluion Secularized Sociey (Cambridge MA Belknap Harvard UniversiyPress 9830909830881048625983091)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1538

Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2138

Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2238

1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2338

Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3138

Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 10: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1038

1048626 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

like a sho religion Announce a course wih ldquoreligionrdquo in he ile and you

will have an overflow populaion Announce a lecure or panel on ldquoreligion in

our imerdquo and you will have o hire a larger hall983089983089

Te disciplines o ar hisory and criicism (similarly o lierary hisory and

criicism) are sill working ou wha his will mean In many ways hese fields

remain deeply enmeshed in he secularizaion hesis bu hings are changing

In 10486269830889830881048627 six years afer Bergerrsquos original aricle appeared Yale ar hisorian Sally

Promey published an essay in Te Ar Bullein arguing ha he scholarship on

American ar hisory was experiencing (and needed o welcome) he ldquoreurnrdquo

o religion o is field o inquiry9830891048626 And over he pas wo decades an increasingnumber o oher scholars (rom an increasing number o perspecives) have

begun exploring he problems and possibiliies o including religion in he

sudy o modern ar James Elkins David Morgan Debora Silverman John

Golding Andrew Spira Eleanor Hearney Mark C aylor Daniel Siedell

Lynn Gamwell Erika Doss Cordula Grewe James Romaine Donald Preziosi

Charlene Sprenak Aaron Rosen and many ohers9830891048627

Te subsequen resuls have ended o be noisy and conusing aking on board a wild array o posiions and ineress bu here are wo general ways

ha his reurn is shaping odayrsquos ar discourse On he one hand here is a

11Fish ldquoOne Universiy Under Godrdquo Chronicle o Higher Educaion 9830931048625 no 1048625983096 (January 983095 983090983088983088983093) C1048625C983092

12Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religion in he Scholarship o American Arrdquo Ar Bullein 983096983093 no 983091 (Sep-ember 983090983088983088983091) 9830939830961048625-1048630983088983091

13Many o hese scholars will be cied in wha ollows In addiion o hose works cied below and

in order o highligh some o he more recen publicaions see Albera Arhurs and Glenn Wallacheds Crossroads Ar and Religion in American Lie (New York New Press 9830909830889830881048625) Eleanor Hear-ney Posmodern Hereics Te Caholic Imaginaion in Conemporary Ar (New York Midmarch Ars Press 983090983088983088983092) Ena Giurescu Heller ed Relucan Parners Ar and Religion in Dialogue (New York Gallery a he American Bible Sociey 983090983088983088983092) Maria Hlavajova Sven Luumlticken and Jill Winder eds Te Reurn o Religion and Oher Myhs A Criical Reader in Conemporary Ar (Urech BAK and Pos Ediions 983090983088983088983097) Rina Arya ed Conemplaions o he Spiriual in Ar (Bern Peer Lang 9830909830881048625983091) James Romaine and Linda Sraord eds ReVisioning Criical Mehodso Seeing Chrisianiy in he Hisory o Ar (Eugene OR Cascade Books 9830909830881048625983091) Donald Preziosi Ar Religion Amnesia Te Enchanmens o Creduliy (New York Rouledge 9830909830881048625983092) CharleneSprenak Te Spiriual Dynamic in Modern Ar Ar Hisory Reconsidered 983089983096983088983088 o he Presen (New York Palgrave Macmillan 9830909830881048625983092) Cordula Grewe Te Nazarenes Romanic Avan-Garde and he Ar o he Concep (Universiy Park PA Penn Sae Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) David Morgan TeForge o Vision A Visual Hisory o Modern Chrisianiy (Oakland Universiy o Caliornia Press9830909830881048625983093) esp chap 983095 Nicholas Wolersorff Ar Rehough Te Social Pracices o Ar (Oxord Ox-ord Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983093) and Aaron Rosen Ar + Religion in he 983090983089s Cenury (New YorkTames amp Hudson 9830909830881048625983093)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1538

Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2638

1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 11: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983089

growing sense ha ar hisory and criicism canno adequaely accoun or he

deph and complexiy o how ar ldquomeansrdquo in a given culural conex wihou

accouning even i only on a sricly sociological level or he religious back-grounds and dynamics in ha sociey Tis is no a recovery o belie as much

as i is he reinclusion o religious insiuions hisories and pracices ino he

relevan evidence base or hisorical-criical sudy As Promey sees i or ex-

ample he reurn o religion is a necessary par o ldquoan effor o recuperae a

closer approximaion o he hisorical whole o include wihin scholarly

purview he ull range o pracices ha make images workrdquo9830891048628 Tus even rom

a sricly (maerialis) sociological perspecive i is becoming a rheoricalquesion ldquohow much o social lie can we undersand i we exclude religion

rom our analysesrdquo9830891048629 Bu Promey has somehing urher in mind he long

hisories o ar ou o which modernism grows have been or he mos par

deeply religious hisories even i hese have been suppressed She argues ha

ldquoime and again we encouner evidence ha secular moderniy in he Wes has

no been wha i has made isel ou o be I has in ac been shaped hrough

a process o purging puriying and neuralizing rom wihin isel hose [re-ligious] hings mos dear o i hose hings mos earul casing hem ou ino

oher vessels in conras o which i has hen come o undersand iselrdquo983089983094 How

can he meanings o modern ar be susained over he long erm when hese

dear and earul roos are uniormly ignored

On he oher hand he reurn o religion has also begun uncioning on

more personal and philosophical levels Numerous scholars991252many who sill

sel-ideniy as resoluely secular991252are voicing heir own personal ldquodisen-

chanmen wih modern disenchanmenrdquo9830891048631 and hey are beginning o

14Promey ldquoTe lsquoReurnrsquo o Religionrdquo 983093983096983097 See also Sally M Promey ldquoSiuaing Visual Culurerdquo in A Companion o American Culural Hisory ed Karen Haltunen (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983096)983090983095983097-983097983092 and David Morgan ldquoVisual Religionrdquo Religion 983091983088 (983090983088983088983088) 9830921048625-983093983091

15Gorski e al ldquoPos-Secular in Quesionrdquo 104862598309316Sally M Promey ldquoReligion Sensaion and Maerialiy A Conclusionrdquo in Sensaional Religion

Sensory Culure in Maerial Pracice ed Sally M Promey (New Haven C Yale Universiy Press9830909830881048625983092) 10486309830931048625

17 Jeffrey L Kosky Ars o Wonder Enchaning Seculariy991252Waler De Maria Diller + Scofidio Jamesurrell Andy Goldsworhy (Chicago Universiy o Chicago Press 9830909830881048625983091) xi For a urher samplingsee also Suzi Gablik Te Re-Enchanmen o Ar (New York Tames amp Hudson 10486259830979830971048625) DawnPerlmuter and Debra Koppman eds Reclaiming he Spiriual in Ar Conemporary Cross-CuluralPerspecives (Albany SUNY Press 1048625983097983097983097) and Mark C aylor Refiguring he Spiriual Beuys Bar-ney urrell Goldsworhy (New York Columbia Universiy Press 9830909830881048625983090) Regarding he reerenceo Max Weberrsquos noion o ldquodisenchanmenrdquo see below or urher discussion

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1238

1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1538

Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 12: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

conduc heir scholarship rom his posiion exploring he possibiliies or

osering ldquoreenchanmenrdquo in he visual ars Tis body o lieraure pushes

pas many o he sociological concerns ha drive he reconsideraion o re-ligion in ar and acually brings religion spiriualiy and heology ino he in-

erpreaive encouner wih he work In his recen book Ars o Wonder Jeffrey

Kosky argues precisely along hese lines

In denying hemselves recourse o religious vocabulary or heological concep-

ualiy modern ar criics give up wha would be advanageous o a proound

encouner wih he works in quesion Religion and heology has [sic] le me

name wha he ar criic ofen names and addresses wih only limied vocab-ulary In his sense i les me prolong he encouner wih he work o ar

deepening he even o is coming inimaely over me and bringing is

srangeness o ligh9830891048632

Koskyrsquos aim is no o revive religion bu o enchan seculariy he wans o

ldquobreak he necessary connecion beween seculariy and disenchanmenrdquo

hus opening ldquoa uure or a more appealing seculariy one ull o charmrdquo9830891048633 As

he sees i he reigning narraive o ar canno susain is value wihou re-course o religion or a leas o a discourse ha borrows heavily rom religious

radiion

Daniel Siedell has similarly argued ha religious vocabulary and heo-

logical concepualiy are uniquely capable o naming an imporan level o

meaning in modern and conemporary ar bu by conras he pursues his

kind o criical engagemen rom a posiion ha inhabis religious belie He

argues ha ldquoa criical perspecive nourished by he Nicene Chrisian aih canconribue o he undersanding o conemporary arrdquo by expanding our sen-

siiviies o ldquohe sacramenal and liurgical ideniy o human pracicerdquo wihin

he ars10486261048624 Siedell akes his lead rom Paulrsquos discourse in he council o he

Areopagus abou ldquohe unknown godrdquo (Acs 983089983095983089983094-1048627983092) and he oriens his cri-

icism in is erms ldquoAlars o he unknown god are srewn abou he hisorical

landscape o modern and conemporary ar Tey are ofen remarkably beau-

iul compelling and powerul Bu hey have been oo ofen ignored or

18Kosky Ars o Wonder 104862598309598309119Ibid 1048625983095983091 104862598309598309520Siedell God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar (Grand Rapids Baker Academic

983090983088983088983096) 10486251048625983088 1048625983091983088

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Inroducion 10486261048627

condemned ou o handrdquo Siedellrsquos criical mehod is hus ldquohe resul o

choosing he way o S Paul o ake he culural ariacs and o reveal and

illuminae heir insighs ino wha hey are only able o poin o no o nameBu poin hey do and hey should be examined and celebraed as suchrdquo1048626983089

From a wide array o posiions boh secular and religious here are increasing

examples o modern ar criicism becoming a realm o heological hinking

Tis does no mean ha religious belie enjoys any kind o pride o place in

he discourse o ar bu i does mean ha religious hisories pracices and

heological radiions have a renewed relevance and weigh in he discussion

I is probably mos accurae o say ha he scholarship o modern ar is be-coming increasingly ldquopossecularrdquo emerging ino an indeerminae space

beyond he liespan o he secularizaion hesis As Canadian philosopher

Charles aylor makes clear his possecular space doesnrsquo necessarily enail a

reurn o radiional religious aih raher (983089) i is ldquoa ime in which he he-

gemony o he mainsream maser narraive o secularizaion will be more and

more challengedrdquo and (1048626) his will be accompanied by ldquoa new age o religious

searching whose oucome no one can oreseerdquo

10486261048626

In oher words i one effeco moderniy was he possibiliy o envisioning he secular wihou any re-

course o he sacred or ranscenden hen he discourse o posseculariy

hrows open a wide range o possibiliies or envisioning he modern wihou

recourse o a reducive secularism10486261048627 A any rae simply he openness o his

condiion invies he reinroducion o religious quesioning back ino he

conversaion

However here are sill numerous problems ha mus be aced in he mids

o his widening conversaion Firs here are hisorical problems Te pos-

secular urn is no only shifing he condiions or he producion and iner-

preaion o ar in he presen and near uure i also begs or a rereading o

21Ibid 1048625104862522Charles aylor Secular Age 983093983091983092-983091983093 One way o inerpre his is o say ha possecular reers o a

conracion o he secularism o wha aylor calls seculariy 983090 (a urning away rom God p 983090) buan expansion o he effecs o seculariy 983091 (a condiion in which belie in God is no longer axiom-aic p 983091) Tus in a possecular age one o he cenral eaures o secular 983091 moderniy simply ex-pands ldquoWe are now living in a spiriual super-nova a kind o galloping pluralism on he spiriualplanerdquo (983091983088983088) See below or urher discussion o aylorrsquos definiions o seculariy

23Sarah Bracke makes a similar saemen in ldquoConjugaing he ModernReligious ConcepualizingFemale Religious Agency Conours o a lsquoPos-secularrsquo Conjuncurerdquo Teory Culure amp Sociey 983090983093no 1048630 (983090983088983088983096) 983093983097

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1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1938

Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 14: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1438

1048626 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

he recen pas Te canonical exs o modern ar hisory were exensively

shaped (someimes explicily so) by he secularizaion hesis and as his hesis

is called ino quesion so oo are he narraives ha have been srucured by iTe hisories o modernism will be increasingly opened o reconsideraion

along religious and heological lines o inquiry bu his mus be done careully

and wih hisorical rigor Te heological conen o modernis arworks and

he religious conexs ha shaped hem are complex and someimes deeply

confliced and he mos helpul scholarship in his discussion will be ha

which brings greaer clariy o hese complexiies wihou nealy smoohing

hem ou or ideological convenience Second here are heoreical problemso deal wih here namely i is unclear how heological reconsideraions o

modern ar are o proceed in erms o inerpreive mehod Rereading mod-

ernis hisory in a possecular seting places new demands on onersquos criical

heory and i is immediaely eviden ha here are significan deficis in he

available criical mehods wih regard o conducing susained heological

hinking abou modern ar Tough each o hese problems requires urher

reamen beyond wha we are able o offer here in his book we will need o wresle wih he problems o boh hisory and heory10486261048628

M983151983140983141983154983150983145983156983161 983137983150983140 S983141983139983157983148983137983154983145983156983161

As should be clear none o his implies ha he possecular urn simply dis-

solves he links beween modern ar and seculariy nor does i sidesep he

ruly confliced relaionships ha developed beween modern ariss and he

church I does imply however a reconsideraion o how we undersand hese

links and hese relaionships Te ile o our book Modern Ar and he Lie o

a Culure subly gesures oward his kind o reconsideraion we wan o

reopen he meanings o modernism991252and is seculariy991252in relaion o he

condiions o culural (and religious) lie wihin which i emerged

o do his we need o clariy he erms we will use o address hese condi-

ions As is ypical we will use he erm moderniy o reer o he socioculural

condiions o modernizaion991252especially he complex ransormaions

24 As explained in he preace we seek o merge discussions o hisory and genealogy wih hose ocriicism and inerpreaion and in his each o he auhors is drawing rom his paricular srenghs Jonahan is working on anoher work ha deals wih heory and criicism in more deail As will be clear Billrsquos chapers ocus more on hisorical influences and relaionships

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 15: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983093

associaed wih indusrializaion urbanizaion and democraizaion991252which

prooundly reshaped he atiudes presupposiions and paterns o lie fited

o hose condiions In his definiions o moderniy Charles aylor reers o ahreeold ldquohisorically unprecedened amalgamrdquo o (983089) new insiuional orms

and pracices which are cenralized in ciies and organized by science ech-

nology economics and indusrial producion (1048626) new values and atiudes

ha privilege individualism democracy and insrumenal raionaliy and (1048627)

new orms o malaise ha include alienaion meaninglessness and a sense o

impending social dissoluion10486261048629

Ar hisorian J Clark summarizes he meaning o his culural amalgam by arguing ha he primary ideniying experience o lie wihin moderniy is

coningency1048626983094 On many levels his experience is simply inegral o living wihin

he mechanized speed o he modern meropolis10486261048631 bu more prooundly i

also reers o a ldquodisincive paterning o menal and echnical possibiliiesrdquo by

which a sociey becomes generally persuaded ha all hings migh be oherwise

Chiefly hrough he powers o raional scruiny echnological innovaion and

social-poliical organizaion he various aces o human lie hisory andcosmos have become unprecedenedly malleable As Clark argues his has

undamenally reorganized human orienaions oward no only space bu

also ime creaing a social order ha has urned rom orms o worship and

sources o auhoriy organized and sabilized by wha has happened in he pas

ldquoo he pursui o a projeced uure991252o goods pleasures reedoms orms o

conrol over naure or infiniies o inormaionrdquo10486261048632 Tis urning enailed ldquoa

25See or insance Charles aylor Modern Social Imaginaries (Durham NC Duke Universiy Press983090983088983088983092) 1048625

26Clark Farewell o an Idea Episodes fom a Hisory o Modernism (New Haven C Yale UniversiyPress 1048625983097983097983097) 983095

27One o he mos insighul and ineresing accouns on his issue is sill he 1048625983097983088983091 essay ldquoTe Me-ropolis and he Menal Lierdquo by German sociologis Georg Simmel Wriing a he urn o hewenieh cenury Simmel careully sudied he ways ha urbanizaion was alering ldquohe sensoryoundaions o psychic lierdquo In conras o rural and small-own lie he argued ha ldquohe inensifica-ion o nervous simulaionrdquo in he ciy was such ha ldquohe meropolis exacs rom man as a dis-criminaing creaure a differen amoun [and differen qualiy] o consciousness han does rurallierdquo Simmel ldquoTe Meropolis and he Menal Lierdquo rans H H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills in TeSociology o Georg Simmel ed Kur H Wolff (Glencoe IL Free Press 1048625983097983093983088) 983092983088983097-983090983092

28Clark Farewell o an Idea 983095 His acual phrase idenifies moderniy wih ldquoa social order which hasurned rom he worship o ancesors and pas auhoriies o he pursui o a projeced uurerdquo (em-phasis added) Tis is an odd ormulaion given ha in Wesern socieies ancesor worship isgenerally associaed wih more archaic pre-Chrisian (raher han simply premodern) socieies which would appear o impossibly ignore he Chrisian Middle Ages agains which moderniy is

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2638

1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 16: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1638

1048626 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

grea empying and saniizing o he imaginaionrdquo by which he horizons o

wha is collecively considered possible and plausible across he many spheres

o human lie were hrown wide open And while his has had some enor-mously liberaing and empowering effecs i has also osered a deeply unse-

ling sense ha

we are living a new orm o lie in which all previous noions o belie and so-

ciabiliy have been scrambled And he rue error o his new order has o do

wih is being ruled991252and obscurely el o be ruled991252by sheer concaenaion

o profi and loss bids and bargains ha is by a sysem wihou any ocusing

purpose o i or any compelling image or riualizaion o ha purpose10486261048633

According o Clark ldquolsquoSecularizaionrsquo is a nice echnical word or his

blanknessrdquo10486271048624

Even i he sweeping claims o secularizaion heory are deunc moderniy

is sill by all accouns deeply associaed wih seculariy However as already

ouched on we mus have greaer clariy abou wha his really does991252and does

no991252enail Clark idenifies his descripions o his ldquonew orm o lierdquo wih

wha he German sociologis Max Weber (983089983096983094983092ndash9830899830971048626983088) amously called he ldquodis-enchanmen o he worldrdquo Adaping he phrase rom Friedrich Schiller (983089983095983093983097ndash

983089983096983088983093)1048627983089 Weber used i o characerize a general compormen oward he world

wihin Norh Alanic moderniy ldquoTe ae o our imes is characerized by

raionalizaion and inellecualizaion and above all by lsquohe disenchanmen o

he worldrsquordquo whereby ldquowerdquo find ourselves generally persuaded ha ldquohere are no

generally juxaposed I seems Clark is subly relabeling Chrisianiy (a leas premodern Chrisian-

iy) as a ype o ancesor worship991252eg reducing he covenan-making God o Abraham Isaac and Jacob he worship o Jesus o Nazareh and he radiional veneraion o hisorical sains o ldquohe worship o ancesors and pas auhoriiesrdquo Tis relabeling is unair and (deliberaely) reducive bu he poin o Clarkrsquos senence991252ha moderniy involves a socieal reorienaion rom orms o worship and auhoriy organized by he pas oward he pursui o a projeced uure991252is helpul

29Clark Farewell o an Idea 98309630Ibid 98309531I is ofen noed (beginning wih Weberrsquos ranslaors Gerh and Mills) ha he borrowed he phrase

rom Schillerrsquos 1048625983095983096983096 poem ldquoTe Gods o Greecerdquo However i mus also be noed ha i Weber was borrowing rom Schiller he did no quoe him direcly Schillerrsquos word is Engoumlterung (a loss ogods) whereas Weberrsquos is Enzauberung (a loss o magic991252ie ldquodisenchanmenrdquo) Te difference issuble bu significan As Bruce Robbins has noed Weberrsquos phrase ldquomay bow genly o Schiller bu wheher or reasons o diplomacy or no i cerainly akes he emphasis off diviniy Orhodox belie is no he objec Weber is chiefly mourning Whaever magic is a figure or non-believers sufferrom is loss as much as believersrdquo See Robbins ldquoEnchanmen No Tank Yourdquo in Te Joy o Secu-larism 983089983089 Essays or How We Live Now ed George Levine (Princeon NJ Princeon UniversiyPress 98309098308810486251048625) 983095983092-983097983092

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1738

Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3238

983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Inroducion 1048626983095

myserious incalculable orces ha come ino play bu raher ha one can in

principle maser all hings by calculaionrdquo10486271048626 Tis ormulaion does no remove

God rom he world991252indeed Weber believed ha disenchanmen was pri-marily atribuable o he developmen o Judeo-Chrisian (especially Pro-

esan) heology10486271048627 Bu i does generally deach diviniy rom our explanaions

o he everyday uncioning o he world and eradicae ldquomagicrdquo rom he field

o explanaory possibiliies991252a field ha is reconceived in erms o coningen

mechanical causes ha are calculable manipulable and manageable hrough

echnological innovaion Tis deachmen and eradicaion migh be under-

sood as a secularizing process bu according o Weber no in he sense hareligious belie collapses Raher he believes ha religious belie ges pressed

ino he more privae realms o human lie ldquoTe ulimae and mos sublime

values have rereaed rom public lie eiher ino he ranscendenal realm o

mysic lie or ino he broherliness o direc and personal human relaionsrdquo10486271048628

In his remarkable sudy o modern seculariy aylor helps o clariy wha

his means by careully disinguishing beween a leas hree ways o defining

modern ldquoseculariyrdquo

10486271048629

Te firs which he designaes seculariy1048625 exiss in he Weberian differeniaion beween (public) secular space and (privae) sacred

space as he basic realms or orders o human exisence Tis seculariy consiss

in he privaizaion o religion Seculariy983090 reers more specifically o he loss

o religious belie and pracice a urning away rom God an increduliy and

denial a boh social and individual levels ha here is any need o posulae a

ranscenden order Tis is he seculariy o heological renunciaion Tough

boh o hese describe major aspecs o wha i migh mean o ideniy he age

o moderniy as ldquosecularrdquo aylor argues ha neiher o hese rames he issue

quie correcly Raher he proposes a hird designaion991252seculariy983091991252o reer

o a proound pluralizing ha has occurred in he condiions o belie whereby

we have ransormed ldquorom a sociey where belie in God is unchallenged and

32Max Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo (10486259830971048625983096) in From Max Weber Essays in Sociology rans and edH H Gerh and C Wrigh Mills (New York Oxord Universiy Press 10486259830979830921048630) 1048625983093983093 1048625983091983097

33See Weber Te Proesan Ehic and he Spiri o Capialism rans alcot Parsons (1048625983097983091983088 repr New York Rouledge 1048625983097983097983090) c Charles aylor A Secular Age esp 983095983091-983096983097 where he reers o he Pro-esan Reormaion as ldquoan engine o disenchanmenrdquo (983095983095) For a discussion o he religious influ-ences on Weberrsquos hinking see William H Swaos Jr and Peer Kiviso ldquoMax Weber as lsquoChrisianSociologisrsquordquo Journal or he Scienific Sudy o Religion 983091983088 no 983092 (December 10486259830979830971048625) 983091983092983095-1048630983090

34 Weber ldquoScience as a Vocaionrdquo 104862598309398309335See aylor Secular Age esp 1048625-983091

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1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2038

1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 18: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 1838

1048626 983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

indeed unproblemaic o one in which i is undersood o be one opion

among ohers and requenly no he easies o embracerdquo1048627983094 In oher words i

we associae seculariy1048625 wih privaizaion and seculariy983090 wih renunciaionseculariy983091 reers o a ldquomuual ragilizaionrdquo o many differen religious (and

irreligious) belies and pracices such ha here is no longer one ha uncions

as axiomaic10486271048631 Tough seculariy1048625 and seculariy983090 are ofen presumed o be

definiive in discussions o modernizaion (i is precisely his presumpion

ha he ldquopossecularrdquo discourse calls ino quesion) aylor conends ha i is

acually seculariy983091 ha carries ar more explanaory power or undersanding

he moderniy no only o he pas bu also ha o he presen (which migh be considered a hypermoderniy as much as a posmoderniy) Modern secu-

lariy has much less o do wih disbelie in God han wih a shif in ldquohe whole

background ramework in which one believes or reuses o believe in Godrdquo

and hereore ldquoin he whole conex in which we experience and search or

ullnessrdquo10486271048632 And as such modern secular sociey canno be characerized

simply in erms o is unbelie bu in erms o he widely diverse orms o belie

and unbelie ha have become possible i is an open field in which all o heseorms are rendered opional conesable and coningen10486271048633

aylorrsquos disincions are also exremely helpul or undersanding he ar o

moderniy And here we encouner a vial disincion ha shapes our sudy

wihin he ars modernism is generally undersood as a response (ofen a

revol) rom wihin and agains he culure o moderniy Modern ar is no

simply any work made in he modern age raher i is arwork ha is sel-

consciously responsive and criical wih respec o is own social siuaion and

is paricipaion in he (aesheic) operaions o moderniy Properly speaking

modern ar is modernis ar And o course he range o responses and criical

gesures wihin modernis ar encompass a wide variey o (someimes widely

divergen) arisic movemens and posiions For J Clark he defining char-

acerisic ha draws all o hese modernisms ogeher is ha hey atemp o

sand and ace he disenchanmen o he world and he insolvency o radiion

as direcly and consciously as possible ldquoModernismrdquo he wries ldquois he ar o

36Ibid 98309137Ibid 983093983097983093 c 983091983088983091-983092 983092983091983095 9830939830911048625-98309198309038Ibid 1048625983091-104862598309239For an insighul and accessible commenary on aylorrsquos work see James K A Smih How (No)

o Be Secular Reading Charles aylor (Grand Rapids Eerdmans 9830909830881048625983092)

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Inroducion 1048626 983097

hese new circumsances I can revel in he coningency or mourn he de-

sueude Someimes i does boh Bu only ha ar can be called modernis

ha akes he one or oher ac as deerminanrdquo10486281048624

Modern ar was (is) a prooundly secular enerprise bu no we conend

in he narrow sense o seculariy983090 Modernism ofen oregrounded radical un-

belie and ourigh rejecions o God church and ranscendence bu o o-

alize hese ino a characerizaion o he whole991252or o regard hem as deer-

minaive o he essenial grain o modernism991252is o skew he hisory Te

primary eaure o modernis ar was no is secular983090 unbelie bu is wresling

wih he condiions o a deeply secular983091 conesabiliy o belie Te arworks(and ar hisories) under consideraion in his book emerged amids a culural

scrambling o heological conceps and religious pracices and hey embody

an exremely variegaed range o posiions convicions and sensiiviies wihin

his highly uncerain hough ideologically pressurized space In his conex

he ac ha moderniss challenged or lef he church (or ha hey were some-

imes unsavory characers) is no enough o warran collapsing he heological

conen o heir works ino he regiser o seculariy983090 Modern ar is no prin-cipally an ar o unbelie i is an ar o agilized belie I is an ar o doub and

searching and above all o heighened sensiiviy o he coningencies o

modern seculariy983091 And o ake i seriously991252o really ener ino is discourse

and he social ldquoar worldrdquo hrough which i circulaes991252ofen involves (or re-

veals) he ragilizaion o onersquos own belie As aylor pus i we modern people

develop (or discard) our belies while looking over our shoulders1048628983089

In his conex consider one o modernismrsquos defining characerisics is op-

posiional sance oward esablished norms and radiions10486281048626 On he one hand

his opposiion was direced oward he dominan arisic esablishmens Con-

sisenly flowing rom he mouhs and pens (and canvases) o he moderniss

40Clark Farewell o an Idea 1048625983096 Clark argues ha his range (or oscillaion) beween reveling andmourning is a byproduc o he ac ha ldquomodernism is caugh inerminably beween horror andelaion a he orces driving irdquo (983096)

41aylor A Secular Age 10486251048625 ldquoWe live in a condiion where we canno help bu be aware ha here area number o differen consruals views which inelligen reasonably undeluded people o good will can and do disagree on We canno help looking over our shoulder rom ime o ime lookingsideways living our aih also in a condiion o doub and uncerainyrdquo

42C Frederic Jameson who argued ha wha drives moderniy is no he need o innovae bu heconvicion ha cerain orms are ldquoworn ourdquo Jameson Te Modernis Papers (New York Verso983090983088983088983095) 983095

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 20: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

were biter proess agains he ldquomoldy vaulrdquo10486281048627 o nineeenh-cenury academic

ar o which he Acadeacutemie des Beaux-Ars in Paris and he Royal Academy in

London were mos represenaive (hough influenial academies flourished inmos major European ciies) Te academies enshrined subjecs and syles

rom an idealized pas in arworks ha appeared o modernis eyes o be es-

capis affecaions o he privileged classes ollowing convenions designed o

be deliberaely insulaory rom he conemporary energy and dysuncions o

urban lie In conras he ldquonew generaion o creaors and specaorsrdquo held ha

an ar ha is ruly new and lie-affirming mus be atuned o he meanings o

he presen momen and mus be willing o disenangle isel rom whaevergeriaric and oumoded orms have been held in place by hisory and

convenion991252regardless o whaever vialiy hey may once have had10486281048628 Cenral

o modernism was an ambiion (someimes calculaed someimes wildly des-

perae) o be more ully and reely ldquoaliverdquo in he ace o and in resisance o all

ha was deadening and dehumanizing abou modern lie

And in ac here was much o resis In he increasingly indusrialized and

urbanized paterns o modern lie he ragilizing space o modern seculariy983091 was urher pressurized by real suffering and ehical ourage Alongside every-

hing ha is ennobling and liberaing abou moderniy i has also been a period

o enormous cruely and suffering991252sweashops world wars revoluions

gulags deah camps nuclear warare poscolonial civil wars genocides envi-

ronmenal caasrophes and so on991252all o which have been given increasing

and hisorically unprecedened visibiliy hrough phoographic media and

inernaional news coverage Indeed many o he ariss who were mos cenral

o he modernis projec were people ldquowhose modernism was empered by he

wors kinds o experiencerdquo10486281048629 And in he ace o such experience wha became

empered was a persisen aih ha he ever-newness o he presen momen

43Kazimir Malevich ldquoFrom Cubism and Fuurism o Supremaismrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar inTeory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 10486259830951048630

44o ake one example he German expressionis group Die Bruumlcke (he Bridge) saged heir firsgroup exhibiion in 10486259830979830881048630 in he showroom o he Seier lamp acory in a suburb o DresdenGermany and disribued block-prined leafles wih his manieso ldquoWih aih in progress andin a new generaion o creaors and specaors we call ogeher all youh As youh we carry heuure and wan o creae or ourselves reedom o lie and o movemen agains he long-esablishedolder orces Everyone who reproduces ha which drives him o creaion wih direcness and au-heniciy belongs o usrdquo See Erns Ludwig Kirchner ldquoProgramme o he Bruumlckerdquo (10486259830979830881048630) in Arin Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 1048630983093

45Clark Farewell o an Idea 983092983088983095

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2638

1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 21: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983089

(and he poenial uures i migh give way o) migh be he realm o somehing

more jus and more ruly ldquolivingrdquo o sand over agains he received (ofen

calcified) orms o lie ha persis rom he pas Tis does no necessiae herejecion o religion bu i does imply a ragilized relaion o is radiions

On he oher hand however modernis opposiion also was direced spe-

cifically oward religious insiuions and docrines For people who care

deeply abou he healh o Chrisian orhodoxy his is he aspec o modern

ar ha generally appears mos problemaic and hreaening Is doubulness

is obscuriy is esing o norms and convenions is eclecic and someimes

unmoored will-o-searching have ofen been seen as anagonisic o religious belie991252or a leas as clearly indicaive o he erosion o religious radiion in

he social imaginaion For his reason when modern ar is allowed a heo-

logical voice in he wriing o ar hisory i is ofen represened as (eiher hero-

ically or belligerenly) heerodox or someimes as openly nihilisic Te sory

is much more complex and ineresing han ha even among hose ariss and

movemens mos commonly porrayed as nihilisic bu his is no o deny he

remaining deep ensions and difficulies which mus no be simply saniizedor redecoraed Te episodes o irreverence and blasphemy mus no be

handled reducively or dismissively aking hem only in heir mos superficial

or silly orms Nor mus we overlook he exen o which modernism was

conroning some real heological ailures on he par o Norh Alanic

churches All hese difficulies mus bear on he argumen ha ollows

Te ac is ha muual incomprehension beween religious leaders and

modern ariss prevailed in he modern period ofen amouning o an im-

passe On he one hand i is well known ha church officials during his

period rom a variey o Chrisian radiions were nooriously conservaive

abou arisic developmens As a resul some o he mos amous ariss even

hose working wih deeply religious moivaion were spurned by he lead-

ership o heir communions Rachmaninoffrsquos amous All-Nigh Vigil or Vespers

(983089983097983089983093) was mean o serve he Orhodox liurgy hough i was never officially

acceped by he church Georges Rouaul was no given any ormal recog-

niion by he Caholic Church unil a ew years beore his deah And so on 1048628983094

46Te anipahy o prominen Chrisian hinkers like G K Cheseron and C S Lewis owardmodern ar is also well known Bu in general his issue needs a ull-scale sudy which as ar as weknow has no been underaken

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2638

1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 22: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Meanwhile ariss or heir par have been nooriously diffiden abou

heir relaionship o ormal religious srucures Many moderniss were a-

mously allergic o all ormal srucures and affiliaion wheher social religiousor poliical bu his oo says litle or nohing abou he religious significance

o heir work Pablo Picasso provides an ineresing example Criics on he

lef have been quick o claim Picasso and his amous Guernica paining as a

disincly lefis proes agains he awul injusices o he Franco regime Te

paining cerainly was a proes bu as John Richardson has shown Picassorsquos

poliical affiliaions were no a all setled10486281048631 And Richardson goes on o liken

his unresolved poliics o his lielong sruggle wih Caholicism which heried (Richardson hinks unsuccessully) o repudiae Indeed Picasso himsel

likened his confliced poliics o his confliced religion elling Kahnweiler

ldquoMy amily hey have always been Caholics Tey didnrsquo like he priess and

hey didnrsquo go o mass bu hey were Caholics Well I am a Communis and

I rdquo10486281048632 Te moral oucry o he iconic Guernica was srongly poliically charged

even i Picassorsquos paricular poliical commimens were unresolved in much

he same way ha he paining is also exremely heologically charged despie(or in ligh o) he ac ha he arisrsquos religious commimens were deeply

confliced Te imagery draws heavily on radiional religious imagery991252

including painings o he crucifixion (paricularly Gruumlnewaldrsquos Isenheim Al-

arpiece) he Pieagrave he massacre o he innocens he penience o Mary Mag-

dalene and so on991252indeed several heologians have claimed his as ldquoone o

he mos powerul religious picuresrdquo o he wenieh cenury10486281048633

47I is quie rue ha Picasso was or some ime a member o he Spanish Communis Pary (houghhe did no join unil 1048625983097983092983092) bu Richardson has shown ha Picasso had earlier claimed o be amonarchis and had eagerly acceped he hospialiy o he conservaive Falange pary because heyoffered he prospec or a Picasso rerospecive in Spain His dealer and close riend D H Kahn- weiler called Picasso he mos apoliical man he ever me saying ldquoHis Communism is quie un-poliical He has never read a line o Karl Marx nor o Engels o course His Communism is sen-imenal He once said o me lsquopour moi le Pari Communise es le pari des pauvres [or mehe Communis Pary is he pary o he poor]rsquordquo John Richardson ldquoHow Poliical Was Picassordquo New York Review o Books November 983090983093 9830909830881048625983088 983090983095-983091983088 Tis is a highly criical review o a 9830909830881048625983088 exhi- biion ldquoPicasso Peace and Freedomrdquo a ae Liverpool which was presumably ldquocelebraingrdquoPicassorsquos lef-wing commimens

48Picasso quoed in ibid 983091983088 (ellipses original)49See or example Paul illich ldquoExisenialis Aspecs o Modern Arrdquo (10486259830979830931048630) in On Ar and Archiec-

ure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New York Crossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 983097983093-9830971048630 illich amouslyreerred o Guernica as ldquohe mos Proesan paining o our imerdquo in he sense ha ldquoi encouners herealiy o he world wih proes and propheic wrah agains he desrucive and demonic powers ohe worldrdquo illich ldquoReligious Dimensions o Conemporary Arrdquo in ibid 1048625983095983097 c 10486251048625983097-983090983088 10486259830971048625

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2638

1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Inroducion 10486271048627

So i is possible o sugges ha he iconic Guernica widely inerpreed as a

poliical saemen may jus as easily have been a response o religious com-

passion as i was a poliical commimen In any case Picassorsquos paradoxical a-filiaions which are shared by many ariss in he modern period make i

hazardous o correlae he ecclesiasical (non)commimen o he aris wih

he religious significance o his or her work

Even so i is no surprise hen ha or he bulk o he wenieh cenury many

Chrisians oped o rerea o he sancuary991252or even o Shakespearersquos ldquobare

ruinrsquod choirsrdquo10486291048624991252leaving he ar world o is own devices Some have atemped

o moun an offensive criicizing he enes o modern and conemporary arha hey regard as mos ani-Chrisian Tese effors are aimed a changing

minds and redirecing he ar discourse bu generally hey come rom he

margins o ha discourse and simply drive a deeper wedge beween he worlds

o Chrisianiy and hose o he ars991252a wedge ha mos acuely affecs

Chrisian ariss and Chrisian inellecuals and is ignored by almos everyone

else Many ohers on he more liberal end o he heological specrum have

ollowed Alred Barr in celebraing modern ar as an embodimen o spiriual yearning ldquoa visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo1048629983089 A airly large body o lieraure emanaing mosly rom a

mainline Proesan perspecive has represened his more hopeul view o

modernism seeing arisic innovaions as expanding he languages o ar and

increasing is abiliy o open (spiriual) worlds o meaning One o he more

percepive scholars o ake his view Jane Dillenberger has argued ha he

separaion o ar rom religion has in ac increased is religious poenial ldquoTe

more he work o ar is separaed rom he religious drama o worship and

liurgy he more i has o carry a religious oaliy in isel By enering ino

he dynamics o ar o his kind we find a new orm o celebraion akes placerdquo10486291048626

50Tis is rom he ourh line o Shakespearersquos Sonne 983095983091Ta ime o year hou mayrsquos in me behold When yellow leaves or none or ew do hangUpon hose boughs which shake agains he coldBare ruinrsquod choirs where lae he swee birds sang

51Barr Wha Is Modern Paining (New York Museum o Modern Ar 1048625983097983092983091) 983091 See below or urherdiscussion o Barrrsquos views

52Dillenberger Secular Ar wih Sacred Temes (Nashville Abingdon Press 10486259830971048630983097) 10486259830901048630-983090983095 George SHeyer similarly argues ha hese new orms ldquoinvie us o ener a cerain ullness o ime ha ad-umbraes he ime o Godrsquos own Kingdom in which he sheer succession o momens heyranny o ime loses is power Like he Gospel ar re-creaes us in a ashion nohing else can

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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1048627 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis celebraion she hinks offers new poenial or evoking an inerior realiy

ha can be deeply religious

Wha all hese approaches ge righ is he inuiion ha heologicalmeanings are in play (and a sake) ouside o he erriory generally marked

as religious Modern ar generaed a discourse packed wih anhropologies

and cosmologies eschaologies and proologies mediaions on goodness and

evil meaning and meaninglessness yearning and lamen immanence and

ranscendence eernaliy and ephemeraliy Being and Nohingness And i

begs or urher inerpreaion along hese lines However Chrisians have

ofen allowed a airly narrow se o criical gesures o deermine and consrainheir posures as viewers o ar10486291048627 Because his discourse is so diverse and

complex a wide range o responses migh well be legiimae a various poins

so we do well o oser a greaer agiliy and creaiviy in our criical posure

oward modern ar allowing or he wide range o responsive gesures be-

ween resisance and celebraion

R983141983154983141983137983140983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

Perhaps in a possecular conex he quesion sands orward in differen relie

bu i sill persiss hese wo worlds991252call hem MoMA and Jerusalem991252wha

have hey o do wih each oher As we hope o show hese worlds have ac-

ually had quie a lo o do wih each oher despie he proound conusions

and conflics ha have ofen marked heir relaionship Consider he example

o Alred H Barr Jr (9830899830979830881048626ndash983089983097983096983089) he firs direcor (rom 9830899830971048626983097 o 9830899830979830921048627) o he

Museum o Modern Ar (MoMA) and a leading figure in he New York ar

world beween he wars Barr is a paricularly ineresing case because his

aher and grandaher were Presbyerian minisers and he was a aihul Pres-

byerian lay elder hroughou his lie In 9830899830979830921048627 he published an influenial book

in which he sough o address he quesion Wha Is Modern Paining or a

public mysified by is ldquobewildering varieyrdquo and difficuly He argued ha

duplicaerdquo Heyer Signs o Our imes Teological Essays on Ar in he 983090983088h Cenury (Grand RapidsEerdmans 1048625983097983096983088) 1048630983097 Ineresingly his poin was also cenral o Abraham Kuyperrsquos influenialargumen ha he Reormaion reed ar rom bondage o church srucures See his ldquoCalvinismand Arrdquo chap 983093 in Lecures on Calvinism Te Sone Foundaion Lecures (Grand Rapids Eerd-mans 10486259830979830911048625)

53Te disincion beween culural gesures and posures is helpully ariculaed in Andy CrouchCulure Making Recovering Our Creaive Calling (Downers Grove IL InerVarsiy Press 983090983088983088983096)chaps 983092ndash983093

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3238

983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 25: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983093

ldquoariss are he sensiive anennae o socieyrdquo a one level heir work helps o

disclose he ldquovaniy and devoion joy and sadnessrdquo o ldquoordinary lierdquo in

modern sociey while a anoher level hey aid us in sruggling wih ldquohecrucial problems o our civilizaion war he characer o democracy and

ascism he effecs o indusrializaion he exploraion o he subconscious

mind he revival o religion he libery and resrain o he individualrdquo10486291048628 And

in ligh o all o his Barr argued ha we mus recognize ha ldquohe work o ar

is a symbol a visible symbol o he human spiri in is search or ruh reedom

and perecionrdquo10486291048629

Writen during he darkes days o World War II hese words make an am- biious claim or he role o his new ar which seemed o carry disincly re-

ligious underones Barr himsel probably did no mean o posi ar as aler-

naive o religion or o se ar over agains religion raher he waned o

ideniy modernism as ariculaing concerns and drives ha migh be recog-

nized as deeply consonan wih religious concerns and drives Indeed one

comes away rom his argumen wondering wha role radiional religion

played in his undersanding o arrsquos abiliy o reveal o disurb o ldquolif us ouo humdrum rusrdquo In wha ways is his human search or ldquoruh reedom and

perecionrdquo coexensive wih religionrsquos claims oward hese same ends Barr

seems o have had his own houghs on his bu he did no widely publish on

he mater and his aspec o his hinking has no ye received sufficien aten-

ion1048629983094 He recognized ha in a world where religion has or many los is

54Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 983091 Barr wroe hese words in he mids o World War II In subse-

quen revised ediions o he book (published afer he end o he war) he made wo significanchanges o his senence he changed ascism o yranny and he changed he revival o religion ohe survival o religion (see or example he 10486259830979830931048630 rev ed 983093) In he wake o WWII and he rise ohe Cold War boh o hese changes signal a shif in Barrrsquos sense o ldquohe crucial problems o ourcivilizaionrdquo i was no longer German Nazism bu Sovie Communism ha loomed in he back-ground o his ex

In ac Barr repeaedly argued ha modernis ar was inherenly subversive o oaliarian regimes(wheher Nazi or communis) and hus should be championed by liberal democracies See orexample Barr ldquoIs Modern Ar Communisicrdquo (1048625983097983093983090) in Ar in Teory 983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 An Anhologyo Changing Ideas ed Charles Harrison and Paul Wood (Malden MA Blackwell 983090983088983088983091) 1048630983095983088-983095983091For urher reamen o Barrrsquos poliics see Paricia Hills ldquolsquoruh Freedom Perecionrsquo AlredBarrrsquos Wha Is Modern Paining as Cold War Rheoricrdquo in Pressing he Figh Prin Propagandaand he Cold War ed Greg Barnhisel and Caherine urner (Amhers Universiy o MassachusetsPress 9830909830881048625983088) 9830909830931048625-983095983093

55Barr Wha Is Modern Paining 98309156One excepion is Sally M Promey ldquoInerchangeable Ar Warner Sallman and he Criics o Mass

Culurerdquo in Icons o American Proesanism Te Ar o Warner Sallman ed David Morgan (New

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 2838

1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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1048627983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

appeal ar has become a domain or ldquohe human spirirdquo in is searching even

aking on qualiies ha once characerized religion and he hough ha his

migh be named or wha i was We will revisi Barrrsquos influence in chaper sixin our discussion o American ar

Furher examples o his kind o inersecion and muual influence beween

modern ar and religion recur hroughou modernism991252a number o which

will be explored in par wo o his book Indeed as we will see much o he

modernis discourse prior o World War II was explicily preoccupied wih

heological problems and srucured in erms o spiriual crises and srivings

However by he second hal o he wenieh cenury he dominan exsabou he hisory o modern ar were regularly consruced wihou reerence

o aih or spiriualiy o any kind Operaing under a powerul orm o secu-

larizaion heory ar hisorian and criic Rosalind Krauss had by 983089983097983095983097 aken

he muual exclusiviy o religion and modern ar o be a mater o ac

Given he absolue rif ha had opened beween he sacred and he secular he

modern aris was obviously aced wih he necessiy o choose beween one

mode o expression and he oher In he increasingly de-sacralized space ohe nineeenh cenury ar had become he reuge or religious emoion i

became as i has remained a secular orm o belie Alhough his condiion

could be discussed openly in he lae nineeenh cenury i is somehing ha is

inadmissible in he wenieh so ha by now we find i indescribably embar-

rassing o menion ar and spiri in he same senence10486291048631

Tus no only did Krauss collapse he range o discernible heological conen

in modern ar o ldquosecularrdquo orms o belie bu she hen proceeded o seal offeven his range991252or a leas he legiimacy o openly discussing his range991252as

academically ldquoinadmissiblerdquo While his synopsis may only have been inended

Haven C Yale Universiy Press 10486259830979830971048630) 1048625983092983097-983096983088 She righly noes ha ldquoa large primary lieraureconcerns Barrrsquos effors o se aesheic sandards or Proesan Chrisianiy [ye] he secondarylieraure does no even menion his aspec o his lierdquo (1048625983095983090) Sudies o his work usually makeonly ormal (and mosly negaive) reerence o his religious lie See or example Alice GoldarbMarquis Alfed H Barr Jr Missionary or he Modern (Chicago Conemporary Books 1048625983097983096983097) who suggess ha his ldquoevangelicalrdquo suppor o modern ar may have somehing o do wih hisreligious background (1048625983090983090-983090983091 1048625983091983093 9830911048630983091) Sybil Gordon Kanor Alfed H Barr Jr and he Inellec-ual Origins o he Museum o Modern Ar (Cambridge MA MI Press 983090983088983088983090) and Irving Sandlerand Amy Newman eds Defining Modern Ar Seleced Wriings o Alfed H Barr Jr (New York Abrams 10486259830979830961048630) 1048625983092

57Krauss ldquoGridsrdquo Ocober 983097 (Spring 1048625983097983095983097) 983093983092

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 27: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983095

o carry descripive weigh a he close o he 983089983097983095983088s i would exer prescripive

orce well ino he 983089983097983096983088s and 983089983097983097983088s

Te book ha is perhaps mos direcly (and irenically) addressed o under-sanding his condiion o inadmissibiliy is James Elkinsrsquos 1048626983088983088983092 mediaion

On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar Early in he book he offers

an aerial view o he siuaion ldquoConemporary ar I hink is as ar rom orga-

nized religion as Wesern ar has ever been and ha may be is mos singular

achievemen991252or is cardinal ailure depending on your poin o view Te

separaion has become enrenchedrdquo10486291048632 Te hisorical narraives one migh ell

o accoun or his separaion are complex and conesable and here are nu-merous poins o enry hrough which one migh begin such a elling For his

par Elkins largely sideseps hese difficulies and insead argues ha he en-

renchmen is a uncion o he hisorical narraives hemselves which have

srucured he academic discourse o modern and conemporary ar ldquoAr ha

ses ou o convey spiriual values goes agains he grain o he hisory o mod-

ernismrdquo such ha ldquoo suddenly pu modern ar back wih religion or spiriu-

aliy is o give up he hisory and purposes o a cerain undersanding omodernismrdquo10486291048633 Tis may seem dogmaic bu he inends i o be purely de-

scripive o he canonical lieraure o modern ar hisory and he normaive

processes o enculuraion in major academic ar programs (his personal ex-

periences in educaional conexs provided he primary impeuses or wriing

his book) And as a descripive (raher han prescripive) saemen i is airly

easy o agree wih boh in heory and in pracice he normaive ldquograinrdquo o he

discourse o wenieh-cenury ar hisory991252and collegiae ar educaion

more generally991252has generally run ofen explicily couner o ha o (devou)

religious hough and pracice

However here is a lo o subex packed ino Elkinsrsquos claim and in order o

achieve clariy abou why and in which way i may or may no be accurae he

erms o he discourse need o be unpacked and submited o scruiny Te core

o Elkinsrsquos argumen is ha here are a leas wo acors now in play ha make

i difficul o inerpre religious conen in ar made since he nineeenh cenury

Te firs o hese acors is ha over he course o he developmen omodern ar overly religious hemes became problemaized or simply

58Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983092) 104862598309359Ibid 983090983088 983090983090

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 28: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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1048627983096 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

disappeared alogeher In a shor chaper iled ldquoA Very Brie Hisory o Re-

ligion and Arrdquo he offers a whisle-sop hisory ha hinges on he observaion

ha ldquogradually he mos invenive and ineresing ar separaed isel romreligious hemesrdquo9830941048624 Tis doesnrsquo necessarily mean ha ariss sopped hinking

abou ar in religious spiriual or heological erms bu i does mean ha his

hinking became generally dislocaed rom radiional religious subjec mater

orma and paronage Elkins recognizes ha his does no in isel imply a

secularizaion sory afer all i modernism has augh us anyhing i is ha

he meanings o an arwork are no reducible o or circumscribed by is

ldquohemesrdquo Bu his poin is ha his hemaic shif does produce a conundrumor ldquoreadingrdquo he religious conen o he work I religion doesnrsquo have any

salien hemaic presence in modern ar hen on wha basis can we say ha i

really has any common purchase on our criical discussions abou i Wihou

he hemaic handholds ha have hisorically demarcaed religious conen

wha can we inerpreively grab on o as being paricularly ldquoreligiousrdquo Elkins

wonders wheher coheren religious conen simply lives or dies by he qualiy

and clariy o is hemaic presence In one sense his suggesion ha religiousmeaning migh be consrained o over religious imagery is inensely prob-

lemaic no only as criical heory991252his is no more deensible han similarly

consraining sociopoliical meanings o heir over hemaic presence991252bu

also as a hisorical accoun Tis calls or a response ha we will offer in more

deail in chaper our in our discussion o German and Duch modernism bu

here we simply noe ha Elkinsrsquos accoun needs o pay more atenion o he

role o Proesanism in his developmen wherein ariss urned away rom

radiional religious ldquohemesrdquo or overly heological reasons983094983089 In anoher

sense however Elkinsrsquos quesions abou he waning o religious imagery do

60Ibid 1048625983090 Elkinsrsquos narraive idenifies he Renaissance as he crucial poin a which ldquohe meaningo ar changedrdquo and by he lae nineeenh cenury and hroughou he wenieh ldquoi appears hareligion has sunk ou o sighrdquo (983095 1048625983090) For an earlier version o his chaper see James Elkins ldquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088 A Very Very Brie Hisory o Religion and Arrdquo Tresholds 983090983093(983090983088983088983090) 983095983093-983096983088 Elkinsrsquos elling o he hisory is sel-consciously provisional and i is no essenialo he primary argumen o his book anyway Whaever hisorical explanaion migh be offeredElkinsrsquos hesis is ha religion has no uncional inerpreive voice in he modern ar discourse

61 As we will see in chap 983092 a cenral characerisic o he Proesan imaginaion especially heReormed variey is ha i akes all o lie and he whole o creaion as a religious sie wheher orno his is denominaed in overly Chrisian erms Tis along wih Proesanismrsquos hisoricallyiconoclasic atiude oward religious images makes i impossible o limi religious conen o re-ligious ldquohemesrdquo

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3038

983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 29: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 1048627983097

serve o highligh some pervasive criical deficis regarding he (narrow) range

o heological hinking in modernis ar criicism wihou recognizable

hemes such hinking is rendered essenially inoperaive And hus i we akei only as indicaive o he hinness o heological hinking in modern ar cri-

icism hen Elkins is righ o sugges ha he degree o which we confine reli-

gious conen o religious hemes is he degree o which we have a leas one

(presumably nonsecularis) explanaion or why religion seems o have wased

away in he wriing o modern ar hisory9830941048626

Te second and more significan acor ha Elkins idenifies is ha modern

arworks and he criical mehods developed o inerpre hem became severelysel-criical so ha even where religious hemes may be presen hey canno be

aken a ace value Elkins acknowledges several examples in which major

wenieh-cenury ariss did engage religious subjecs in heir work (he nu-

merous religious painings by Emil Nolde or Barnet Newman) or accep com-

missions or religious conexs (he chapels by Henri Maisse or Mark Rohko)

bu he righly noes ha hese works hardly encourage sraighorward iner-

preaion He insiss ha a mos we can conclude ha ldquosuch ar is abou re-ligion i doesnrsquo insaniae religionrdquo9830941048627 Or more o he poin even i any o hese

ariss were earnesly atemping o ldquoinsaniae religionrdquo ha kind o conen

would be uninerpreable in he discourse o modern ar As Elkins says ldquoCon-

emporary ar in is mos serious and ambiious orms is a mater o he phi-

losophy and heory o ar and visualiy Te idea is ha religion is no only

beside he poin o conemporary ar bu ha i has acually become inacces-

sible o arrdquo9830941048628 Cenral o he criical mehods ha have been primarily respon-

sible or wriing he hisories o wenieh-cenury ar is an inense suspicion a

doubulness a hermeneuical doubling back ha dismanles he kinds o sig-

nificaion (and sinceriy) ha religious conen generally requires Tus Elkins

62For he record we should noe ha heologian Paul illich (10486259830969830961048630ndash10486259830971048630983093) ried o handle his prob-lem by shifing he locus o he spiriual ldquoimporrdquo (Gehal ) o an arwork rom is heme o is syleFor illich he heological conen o a modernis paining had much less o do wih is picorialhemes han wih is ldquoexpressiviyrdquo o ldquoreligious dephrdquo991252is abiliy o sir eeling or ha which iso ulimae concern See illich ldquoConemporary Visual Ars and he Revelaory Characer oSylerdquo (1048625983097983093983096) in On Ar and Archiecure ed John Dillenberger and Jane Dillenberger (New YorkCrossroad 1048625983097983096983095) 10486259830901048630-983091983096

63Elkins in conversaion wih Caroline Jones ldquoCaroline Jones Responds [o James Elkins lsquoFromBird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rsquo]rdquo Tresholds 983090983093 (983090983088983088983090) 983096983091 Emphasis original

64Elkins On he Srange Place o Religion in Conemporary Ar 983097983088

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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983092 983088 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

persuasively argues ha wihin he discourse o modern ar ldquoi is impossible o

alk sensibly abou religion and a he same ime address ar in an inormed and

inelligen mannerrdquo where religious conen is clear i will be pulled o piecesin he machinery o criical mehod where i is implici i simply becomes

uncionally invisible9830941048629 In shor inenional religious conen canno survive

he inerpreive processes o modern or posmodern ar criicism983094983094

Elkinsrsquos sudy is essenial reading on his opic and in is ligh one can un-

dersand why he prospec o ldquosuddenly pu[ing] modern ar back wih re-

ligion or spiriualiyrdquo seems dubious heir respecive modes o visual meaning

appear srucurally incompaible However saing he mater in erms oputing wo srucures back ogeher again migh conuse he issue rom

he ouse and a any rae i is no he only way o undersand or respond

o he curren siuaion Raher we are ineresed in rereading he ldquograin o he

hisory o modernismrdquo991252an enormously complex and layered organism991252by

quesioning he ways in which is narraives already bear heological srucures

ormaions and exures Wha do hese grains look like under he ligh o

heological inquiry or when considered in he conex o religious pracices Are here always already heological axes o meaning running hrough he very

grain ha Elkins is reerring o even i hey are difficul convolued and un-

derinerpreed And i submiting modern ar o his kind o religious and

heological quesioning migh orce us o ldquogive up he hisory and purposes o

a cerain undersanding o modernismrdquo wha exacly would be given up And

wha would remain Is i only a cerain kind o inerpreive consricion ha

would be given up or would here be heavier coss Is i viable o raffic in a

raher uncerain undersanding o modernism one or which heological

quesioning is well suied and even necessary

In wha ollows we are rankly much less ineresed in ldquoar ha ses ou o

convey spiriual valuesrdquo or in ar made or a specifically religious seting han

we are in deciphering he ways ha ldquospiriual valuesrdquo even heological values

are already in play and a sake hroughou modern ar even (perhaps espe-

cially) in arworks ha do no se ou o convey any such hing Our aim is o

65Ibid 10486251048625104863066For a urher developmen o his argumen see Jonahan A Anderson ldquoTe (In)visibiliy o

Teology in Conemporary Ar Criicismrdquo in Chrisian Scholarship in he weny-Firs CenuryProspecs and Perils ed Tomas M Crisp Seve L Porer and Gregg en Elsho (Grand RapidsEerdmans 9830909830881048625983092) 983093983091-983095983097

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3238

983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

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Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

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983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

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Page 31: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092 983089

draw ou and inerpre he religious conexs and heological concerns ha

run hrough he developmens o modernism Or raher i is an atemp o

draw ou he ways ha modern ar akes up and wresles wih human expe-rience wihin conexs ha were already religious and in erms ha are un-

avoidably heological Te argumen o his book is ha he crises and labors

o modernis ar were among oher hings heological crises and labors

R983141983156983144983141983151983148983151983143983145983162983145983150983143 M983151983140983141983154983150983145983155983149

o claim ha religious radiions are alive and well in modern ar would be

claiming oo much However some more modes991252hough significan991252claims migh be advanced Firs religious radiions have had deep shaping

influence on he social and imaginaive developmen o many imporan

modern ariss and movemens despie whaever ambivalence ariss may

have el oward hose radiions Can he work o Picasso or example be

horoughly undersood apar rom his own Caholic childhood Wha abou

he Caholicism o Paul Ceacutezanne or o Andy Warhol Te imporance o

Russian Orhodoxy o Vasily Kandinsky or Naalia Goncharova Or he in-fluence o Proesanism on Vincen van Gogh Pie Mondrian or Rober

Rauschenberg Could i be he case ha some cenral aspecs o hese reli-

gious radiions991252he Caholic sacramens in France he Orhodox icon in

Russia and Proesan spiriualiy in norhern Europe and Norh America991252

have played a decisive role in modernis arisic innovaions And i so his

raises a urher possibiliy ha migh be explored perhaps hese innovaions

may in urn have an influence on hese religious radiions radiions afer all

are no fixed eniies hey are always in process

Second aside rom arguing ha a background ldquoreligious imaginaionrdquo was

operaive in he lives o paricular modernis ariss and in he consrucion o

paricular arworks we also wan o argue ha modernism is in isel a heo-

logically meaningul projec wheher or no religion played a conspicuous

role in he biography o his or ha aris When inerpreed hrough and in

relaion o he radiions o Chrisian heology modern arworks are ofen

able o susain a remarkable degree o heological inelligibiliy and meaningTis migh be saed in hree differen ways (983089) Te primary concerns ha

shaped and developed modern ar included concerns ha are essenially heo-

logical (ie seeking o undersand lie in relaion o he presence or absence

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3238

983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3538

Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

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8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

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Page 32: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3238

983092 1048626 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

o God) wheher or no paricular ariss ariculaed heir concerns in hese

erms (1048626) modern ar uncions in ways ha are akin o and resonan wih he

problems ha also preoccupied modern heology and (1048627) modern ar hassomehing o conribue o heological inquiry offering unique sies and modes

o hinking or encounering and wresling wih heological quesions inu-

iions and concepualizaions Fully addressing each o hese lines o inquiry

is beyond he scope o his book bu we hope ha our invesigaions in he

pages ha ollow will simulae urher hinking along hese lines Modern ar

has many sories o ell and some o hose sories are heological

C983154983145983156983145983139983137983148 P983154983141983155983155983157983154983141983155

However as Elkins reminds us here are serious challenges ha need o be

addressed i we hope o really susain his conversaion ldquoTe pressure o

hisory is crucial i has o be decided beore i can be possible o seriously

weigh academic and non-academic descripions o religion and arrdquo9830941048631 Te

requiremen o ldquodeciderdquo he hisory beore a serious weighing o he issues is

possible is oversaed bu Elkins is cerainly righ o argue ha he discourse

o religion and ar will always remain inep and irrelevan unil i can be shown

o have compelling explanaory power wih respec o ldquohe pressure o hisoryrdquo

in erms o (983089) wha acually happened in ar over he pas wo cenuries and

(1048626) he primary discourses ha have been used o undersand i up o his poin

And his explanaory power has surely been lacking in boh respecs

Daniel Siedell has claimed ha ldquoa hisory o modern ar can be writen ha

reveals ha Chrisianiy in all is myriad culural and maerial maniesaions

is never absen rom he modern arisrdquo9830941048632 Bu as Jonahan Evens has remarkedSiedell didnrsquo underake ha ask in his book nor has anyone else o dae9830941048633

Where serious Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar have appeared hey

have ended o beray a relaive ignorance o and nonparicipaion in he mos

imporan heoreical and hisorical work being done in he field While we

donrsquo presume o decide anyhing here (or presume o span hese remendous

gaps in a single leap) his presen volume is an atemp o occupy more

inormed conversan and sympaheic posiions wihin he discourse o

67Elkins ldquoFrom Bird-Goddesses o Jesus 983090983088983088983088rdquo 98309698308868Siedell God in he Gallery 98309298309569Evens review o God in he Gallery A Chrisian Embrace o Modern Ar by Daniel A Siedell Ar

and Chrisianiy 983093983095 (983090983088983088983097) 1048625983095

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3338

Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3538

Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 33: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3338

Inroducion 9830921048627

modern ar and o exegee and decipher some o he heological dimensions

o is hisories Or perhaps we migh say ha his is an atemp o explore he

ways in which hese hisories were shaped by significan heological ldquocross-pressuresrdquo o borrow a erm rom Charles aylor 10486311048624 some o which demand a

more careul accouning o he religious conexs ha produced hese pres-

sures Our argumen is ha hese are deeply significan o he ormaion o

modern (and conemporary) ar despie heir general neglec in he lieraure

(and especially in he eaching) o he discipline

And as alluded o earlier we migh as well raise he ane even urher he

religion-and-ar discourse mus accoun no only or he pressure o hisoryi mus also (perhaps primarily) accoun or he pressure o criicism I

religion991252or more precisely heology991252is o have anyhing o relevance o say

abou modern ar hen i ulimaely needs o be able o say i while acing (or

sanding inside o) specific works o ar And such a saying needs o persua-

sively inerpre he ways hese works presen hemselves as paricular objecs

in paricular conexs1048631983089 I may well be ha nineeenh- and wenieh-cenury

ar is a field rich wih heological hinking (ar more han has been ariculaed

up o his poin) and as such i sands o be renarraed along heological axes

o meaning Bu he measure o such claims will be he degree o which he

criical and hisorical analyses produced are able o persuasively accoun or

he arworks hemselves Chrisian scholars o ar alongside all oher religious

and possecular scholars ineresed in his discussion mus make hemselves

accounable boh o hisory and o hick personal encouners wih arworks

We hope o do his in he chapers ha ollow which are srucured parly as

a hisorical argumen and parly as a series o criical engagemensTis objecive places his book in a leas wo differen conexs simulane-

ously and demands ha i uncion persuasively in boh On he one hand his

is o some exen a modesly revisionis accoun o he hisory o modern ar

70Charles aylor Secular Age 983091983088983090 aylor argues ha when aced wih ldquohe opposiion beweenorhodoxy and unbelie many and among hem he bes and mos sensiive minds were cross-pressured looking or a hird way Tis cross-pressure is o course par o he dynamic whichgeneraes he nova effec as more and more hird ways are creaedrdquo (983091983088983090)

71 As Rosalind Krauss noed a he beginning o her career he pracices o ar hisory and criicismare a heir bes when hey become ldquomuually inclusiverdquo See Krauss ldquoTe Sculpure o DavidSmihrdquo (PhD diss Harvard Universiy 10486259830971048630983097) 983090 In oher words hisory is mos meaningul wheni clarifies and is suppored by criical encouners wih arworks as is criicism when i ocuses andpressures he quesions o hisory Hisory and criicism are srucures o meaning ha mus always be begging each oherrsquos quesions

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3538

Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 34: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3438

983092 983092 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

Tis accoun is no in any way comprehensive bu i does atemp o race

some long and significan hreads o religious and heological hinking ha

run hrough he pas wo cenuries o Wesern ar991252hreads ha have beennegleced or quiely aken or graned Raher han presening a ull hisory

his book migh be undersood as a series o parial inervenions ino exising

hisories We are no inroducing an alernaive se o obscure ariss or a-

emping o overhaul he canon Indeed or his paricular projec we have

specifically chosen o ocus on amiliar ariss and arworks hose already

cenral o he ldquograinrdquo o he modernis ar discourse Tis effor is hus revi-

sionis only o he exen ha once hese inervenions are accouned or he warp and woo o he hisory begin o hold ogeher somewha differenly

On he oher hand his book is also posiioned in he conex o previous

atemps by Chrisian scholars o heologically inerpre he hisories o

modern ar Chrisian engagemens wih modern ar hisory have generally

populaed an alernaive subculural discourse o is own over he pas ew

decades one ha has been generally ignored in he mainline academic ar

discourse(s) Tis book acknowledges engages and ineviably paricipaes in

his subculure Specifically our ile places his sudy in direc relaionship o

Hans Rookmaakerrsquos Modern Ar and he Deah o a Culure (983089983097983095983088) a book ha

has deeply influenced he course o (paricularly Proesan) Chrisian

hinking abou he visual ars or more han our decades We wish o recover

some o he virues o Rookmaakerrsquos projec while also ideniying is weak-

nesses and atemping o move beyond hem We explore his relaionship in

some deail in he ollowing chaper

Wihin hese wo rames o reerence we are modesly challenging he

sandard hisories o modern ar which have largely excluded religion rom

heir accouns while also challenging many o he atemps by Chrisian

scholars and commenaors o (re)engage hese accouns

Elkins reminds us ha he heory one deploys in undersanding mod-

ernism ldquoconsiues a choice ha implies very differen objecs ariss and

movemens and srongly affecs wha is aken o be worh saying abou a

given paining period or problemrdquo10486311048626 Te wager o his book is ha ldquowha isaken o be worh sayingrdquo abou modern ar includes discussion o is religious

72 James Elkins Maser Narraives and Teir Disconens vol 1048625 o Teories o Modernism and Posmod-ernism in he Visual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983093) 983092983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3538

Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 35: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3538

Inroducion 983092983093

influences and is heological conen and implicaions However raher han

insising on very differen objecs ariss and movemens as our objec o

sudy his projec will more or less say wihin he bounds o a canonicalhisory o Norh Alanic modern ar while offering a rereading and resaging

o ariss arworks and evens wihin ha hisory

Consequenly we are imposing limis o he scope o his projec ha may

seem ill-advised in a leas hree ways firs given he recen breakdown and

dispersion o hese canons ino ldquoglobal hisoriesrdquo o once again ake up he

problems o specifically Euro-American ar seems an admitedly shorsighed

way o srucure his projec Tis sudy would cerainly benefi rom ollowinghis dispersion ino culural locales hroughou he Global Souh in which he

old anagonisms beween ar and religion appear narrow and irrelevan I

would make enormous sense o call hese Wesern hisories ino quesion by

urning oward a variey o non-Wesern modernisms many o which have

even sronger hreads o religious and heological conen However in lim-

iing he ocus o our quesioning o he Wesern canon we hope o address

some conesed ideas on amiliar erriory in order ldquoo chase a single insighhrough maerial ha we already know all oo wellrdquo10486311048627 Rehinking he meaning

o Norh Alanic seculariy is o primary concern here and hus his sudy is

srucured as a rereading more han as a search or new exs

Second modernism isel is an exremely conesed and inernally con-

fliced caegory wihin he ars oday and i is by mos accouns now over

having unraveled ino a angle o compeing posmodernisms hypermod-

ernisms remodernisms alermodernisms posposmodernisms ec I mod-

ernism is where he problems originally lie hen i would seem advisable o

jus abandon he old edifice and concenrae on building somehing new

However no only are we doubul ha he Wes really is so cleanly beyond

modernism (or moderniy) we also believe ha in any case i is vial o more

clearly undersand he ways ha he (religious) pressures o modernis hisory

have been ormaive o conemporary ideniies and concepualiies

As ar hisorian Sephen Bann argues ldquohe very concep o Posmodernism

is aed o be a ragile one in hisorical erms o he exen ha he posmodernis defined as exising in a relaionship o exclusion vis-agrave-vis he modern and

73Rober Nelson Te Spiri o Secular Ar A Hisory o he Sacramenal Roos o Conemporary Ar-isic Values (Melbourne Monash Universiy ePress 983090983088983088983095) 98308810486251048625983091

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 36: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3638

983092 983094 M983151 983140983141 983154 983150 A 983154 983156 983137983150 983140 983156983144983141 L 983145983142983141 983151 983142 983137 C 983157 983148983156983157 983154 983141

no in a dialecical relaionship o he pas ha would ake ino accoun he

muliple deerminaions o which Modernism isel was heirrdquo10486311048628 Borrowing

rom Niezschersquos meaphor o hisorical sudy as a ladder Bann warns haldquosanding on he lsquoumos rung o he ladderrsquo is no a recipe or clear-sighedness

bu raher or becoming off balance (perhaps aally so) aking lsquoA ew seps

backrsquo in Niezschersquos erms is no jus a mater o sraighorward hisorical

procedure bu he bes way in my opinion o keep a clear head in he conem-

porary periodrdquo10486311048629 Indeed he enire poin o aking hese seps backward ino

he hisory o modernism is o more securely ldquolook ou over he upmos rung

o he ladderrdquo in order o more wisely ldquoconribue o he developmen o hecriical discourse o he presen dayrdquo1048631983094 Te aim o his presen book is o back

up and reconsider some o he sories we have used o define he religious and

heological dimensions o our arisic heriages which have or beter and

worse provided significan raming or ldquohe criical discourse o he presen dayrdquo

Tird our consideraions o religion and heology in relaion o modern ar

will be primarily concerned wih Chrisianiy (in is various orms) Tere are

o course many oher religious perspecives ha would be very relevan oinclude here991252Judaism Buddhism Islam Naive American spiriualiy and

so on all deserve much deeper invesigaion wih respec o modern and con-

emporary ar han hey have ye received991252bu limiing our scope o Chris-

ianiy allows or greaer coherence o our invesigaions and a more rigorous

(sel-)searching on he par o he auhors boh o whom are Chrisians Te

Wesern seculariy o modern ar grew ou o Wesern Chrisianiy and here

are sill srong roos connecions and resonances ha will serve as he oci o

our invesigaion However in oriening our sudy in his way we are no a-

emping o colonize or Chrisianize modern ar Our projec is no o dig up

marginal overlooked Chrisian ariss in an atemp o repopulae he hisory

books wih ariss more suiable o our cause Nor would we wan o reroac-

ively coerce ariss ino affirming some preordained se o orhodoxies ha

we wan hem o affirm Were his projec o err in eiher o hese direcions

he resul would be inellecually dishones and unhelpul Nor is his a

74Sephen Bann Ways Around Modernism vol 983090 o Teories o Modernism and Posmodernism in heVisual Ars (New York Rouledge 983090983088983088983095) 9830911048630

75Ibid 98309198309676Ibid

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 37: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3738

Inroducion 983092983095

rearguard atemp o undermine or overhrow modern ar Daniel Siedell has

righly complained ha Chrisian commenaors on modern and conem-

porary ar have ended o show ldquoa remarkable lack o inerpreive chariyrdquo andhave oo ofen resored o ldquoa shrill polemics in public discourse ha has grown

immune o subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalencesrdquo10486311048631 We have

no ineres in ollowing ha patern

Raher our aim in his book is o employ a more chariable hermeneuic

We believe ha par o wha his means is being willing o pay atenion o

ariss as spiriual beings and o atune our sensiiviies o (among oher

hings) he heological subleies qualificaions nuances and ambivalences oheir work And his arises rom he pressure o arworks hemselves As

Charles Harrison and Paul Wood argue ldquoo consider he exensive hisory o

modern ar is inescapably o eel he orce o quesions raised in pracicerdquo10486311048632991252

quesions ha include a leas or us difficul heological quesions Our ac-

coun o modern ar is generaed by a series o inerpreive problems ha arise

rom encouners wih paricular ariss and arworks We are lovers o modern

ar and when we submi ourselves o open and hones encouners wih he works we canno help bu experience hem as grappling wih quesions and

concerns ha srike us deeply Perhaps more han anyhing his book grows

ou o our effors o ariculae how hese works are meaningul or us

Our inen hen is o recover a leas wo o he unold sories abou modern

ar firs Wesern ar sill carries he mark o is religious roos ofen in ways

ha go unacknowledged and second in is ariculaion o deeply el human

concerns modern ar is always already doing heology a some level Charles

aylor has recenly asked why i is ha he ariacs ha consisenly move

conemporary people are conneced o religion991252he Gohic cahedrals he

music o Bach or Handel Is i possible he wonders ha ldquohe old religion has

no been ully replaced in a supposedly lsquosecularrsquo agerdquo10486311048633 Tis possibiliy sill

largely unexplored in he lieraure on modern ar is wha we hope o develop

77Siedell God in he Gallery 104862598309178Charles Harrison and Paul Wood ldquoGeneral Inroducionrdquo in Harrison and Wood Ar in Teory

983089983097983088983088ndash983090983088983088983088 104862579Charles aylor Secular Age 9830951048625983090

Copyrighted Material wwwivpresscompermissions

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838

Page 38: Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness - EXCERPT

8172019 Modern Art and the Life of Culture By Jonathan A Anderson and William A Dyrness - EXCERPT

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullmodern-art-and-the-life-of-culture-by-jonathan-a-anderson-and-william-a-dyrness 3838