Art History in South Africa: Past and Present

Abstract

The paper gives a history of the development of art history in South Africa and shows how it initially was elitist, projecting the white mythology of Western man onto the South African situation. South African art historians used to concentrate on the internal development and autonomous nature of art to be discovered through an exposition of the uniqueness of the individual artist. A modernist form-orientated approach characterized much of the early writing and a clear distinction was made between high art and popular crafts. From the 1980’s, with the establishment of an Art Historical Association, the situation changed considerably. A new revisionist approach introduced a new cross-cultural awareness and appreciation of art and opened the discipline to modern art historical methods. The continuation of this development in South Africa, in which quality and efficiency are assured, can only benefit from the collective assistance of the international academic community.