Art History and Prehistory

Abstract

Baedecker's Paris for 1910 advises the tourist that if “he selects a hotel of high class, dines at the table d'hote, visits the theatres, drives in the parks and environs, and finally indulges in suppers a la carte, he must be prepared to spend 30–40 fr. a day or upwards.” To the tourist of 1952, for whom thirty francs would barely buy a newspaper or pay for a telephone call, such statements had the flavor of sweet anachronisms.Hardly less quaint are the observations of 1910 with regard to prehistoric art. The Baedeckers of the time refer to “curious discoveries” in the caverns of the Dordogne, but introduce the subject of French art by remarking, “The earliest achievements of art in France … possess but little interest for the majority of visitors. …” In 1952 crowds typical of “the majority of visitors” were moving in awed silence through caverns like those of Lascaux and Peche-Merle. To judge from their demeanor, they were being more directly impressed by the art they saw there than tourists usually see...