Descrizione del progetto
Percepire aspetti taciuti della storia dell’arte
Nonostante un livello elevato di accesso digitale ai dipinti storici, spesso a mancare è la comprensione delle condizioni e del contesto in cui vengono creati. La riscoperta e l’approfondimento di queste conoscenze sono fattori essenziali per la storia dell’arte e per il nostro patrimonio culturale. In questa direzione, il progetto PaintOdor, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di condurre uno studio basato sul «profumo di un dipinto» per svelare il ruolo affascinante dell’olfatto e dell’organizzazione degli atelier di pittori nel corso della storia materiale dell’arte. L’attenzione è concentrata sulla pittura francese che va dalla metà del XVIII secolo alla prima metà del XX secolo. Il progetto fornirà una dettagliata analisi della «storia nascosta» alternativa per mezzo di fonti storiche provenienti da un’ampia gamma di archivi.
Obiettivo
“Intoxicated by turpentine.” When Marcel Duchamp so described the painters of his time, the avant-garde artist was not only criticizing a traditional way of thinking about the materiality of art, he was also modernizing a commonplace of medical discourse as well as a recurring and significant motif in the French commentary on the arts. Investigating historically the stereotype of “the smell of paint,” this research project seeks to underscore the important role of olfaction in the material history of art and in the historical conceptions of the art of painting in France from the mid-18th century to the first half of 20th. At the crossroads of art history and history of the sciences, this research will describe how medical concerns about the smell of paint significantly influenced the making and the composition of colors as well as the size and organization of the painter’s studio, consequently affecting the social status of the artist and, ultimately, the critical discourse on art, which often used the smell of a painting in metaphors expressing an aesthetical judgment. Thus, from the creation of a painting to its reception, the frequent references to the smell of paint unveil a hidden aspect of the history of art that will be illuminated through this analysis of a variety of historical sources, including, in particular, medical works, technical treatises on painting, industrial archives, art criticism, satirical drawings, etc. Finally, this historical research on the smell of a painting will be applied to the creation of a pedagogical tool aimed at the museum-going public. It will present the historical evolution of the painter’s studio through the smells of the painter’s materials. This sensory experience of the materiality of painting aims to embody art history, providing museum visitors with an alternative to the digital approach to works of art.
Campo scientifico
Not validated
Not validated
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinatore
69365 Lyon
Francia