MA Linfei
Journal of Renmin University of China.
2021, 35(3):
128-135.
From the late 19th century to the beginning of 1920s,the methods of stylistic,iconological,and psychological analyses dominated European art historyAlthough a history of Marxist art in its strict sense had not yet appeared by then,some Marxist theorists' discussions on art theory have established an academic foothold for the study of arts social historyMarxist theories and methods have been consciously applied to the study of art history since 1920sPaying attention to arts social function,some art historians further explore the sociality of art formUsing Western Marxist theories of “cultural industry” and “social criticism,” they've also made indepth analyses on the internal social motivation of art development and on the complex connotation of art from the political,economic,and cultural aspects reflected in artAfter 1980s,in integrating itself with the trend of “new art history,” Western Marxist art historical research questioned and criticized traditional theories and methods;it further examines the issues on gender,politics,race,and cultural values in art and reveals the complexity of the context in which art is made,with the help of such postmodernist theories as psychoanalysis,semiotics,and feminism