A Study Of Meyer Shapiro’s View Of Modern Art History

Mayer Shapiro is a unique American art historian in the 20 th century,who has made great achievements and exerted a profound influence on the study of art history,especially on the study of medieval art and modern art.His articles combine formalist analysis,art history and iconographic analysis to deeply analyze modern artists and their works such as Cezanne,Van Gogh,Courbet and Mondrian.In the field of contemporary art history,Shapiro is an inescapable figure and has produced a lot of relevant research results.This essay mainly analyzes Shapiro’s view of art history,which is divided into five parts: The first part is a general overview of Shapiro,a review of some research literature and the significance of this paper.The second part mainly discusses Shapiro’s "field concept" and "style" view.From the analysis of modern art works,Shapiro summarizes his concept of "field" of art works and the different visual feelings brought to the audience by artists’ subjective construction of "field".And it discusses the main content of Shapiro’s concept of "style" and the research value of "style" to modern art,as well as the embodiment of artists’ individuality in style.The third part mainly discusses Shapiro’s support and promotion of modern art.Shapiro puts modern art in a concrete social and historical background,clearly presenting his artistic historical views on modern art and abstract art.The fourth part,starting from the relationship between artists and social life,analyzes the choice of subject matter,the relationship between form and content of art works and social life at that time.The fifth part mainly starts with Cezanne and Van Gogh,the artists whom Shapiro adored very much.Through the analysis of Cezanne’s "apple" and Van Gogh’s "shoe",it reveals the relationship between artists’ individuality and artistic works.