How Feminist Intervention In Art History

Griselda Pollock is an important and a representative of the second generation feminist art historian in the West. Based on the foundation of the research of the first generation feminist art historians, she integrated the ideas and the achievements of the western Marxism, Freud's psychoanalysis, deconstruction of Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault further, and also the modern western philosophy, sociology, culture studies, psychology and psychiatry. She has established a unique theoretical frame in the field of researching the feministic art history.Using methodology with a deconstruction spirit and genuine ideas of Marxist-materialism and psychoanalysis, Pollock disclosed deeply the mechanism of the language of patriarchy which had always been hidden in the Western mainstay art historian ideas and methodology. She also disclosed in a strong way the facts and the reality of sexual suppressions and the exploitations related to them. In doing this, she sabotaged the power of the language of patriarchy and wrote art histories from a new point of view. Rewriting art history was her final goal. In this article, the author discusses the transformation of art history from a traditional one to a feministic one; the standpoint of feminists based on dialectics, society with gender discrimination. She discussed the process of construction of a new psychology and the differentiation and development of feminism. In this discussion, this author tries to show clearly what was Pollack's classical view of anti-patriarchy, to clarify the source of her theoretical thinking, and to present the background of why she so forcefully claimed that feminist ideas should intervene and be involved in those dealing with art history.A detailed examination of Pollack's feminist art history ideology provides us a fulcrum in understanding the Western feminist art history theory. The author hopes that this discussion will provide some new information and new ways of thinking for the study of the methodology which should be used in research of current art history in China.