No coherent universal history of art remains possible

Evidence

At all events, it was clear that no coherent ‘history of art’ — that is, its Western variants, since a universal history had never been on offer — was any longer possible, only discrete enquiries into particular episodes of the past; and that there could be no such thing as a constant ‘work of art’ as a singular phenomenon, susceptible of a universally valid act of interpretation. — Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernity, 248

Categorization

• DEFINE: Caps Belting’s claim that ‘art’ names no stable referent across time, only discrete local enquiries into past episodes.
• XREF: connects to: Art has no unitary essence or unfolding logic — Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernity, 247; Contemporary art has escaped the frame of art history — Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernity, 249; Art-historical period concepts fail because cultural change has no real beginnings or endings — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 662

Broader Connections

• Contemporary art has escaped the frame of art history #qualifies (0.80) — Perry Anderson, The Origins of Postmodernity, 249