The work of art in the age of Trump
- In the age of mechanical reproducibility, the 'aura' surrounding works of art undergoes a crisis. The contemporary relevance of Walter Benjamin's thesis - in its societal, aesthetic, and media-theoretical significance - is illustrated by former U.S. president Donald Trump's purported ownership of "Les deux soeurs" ("Two Sisters"), also known as "Sur la terrasse" ("On the Terrace"), by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Journalist Mark Bowden, who caught a glimpse of the painting when he was invited to Trump's jet in 1997, describes the event in an article for Vanity Fair: "He showed off the gilded interior of his plane - calling me over to inspect a Renoir on its walls, beckoning me to lean in closely to see … what? The luminosity of the brush strokes? The masterly use of color? No. The signature. 'Worth $10 million,' he told me." Of course, this is the attitude that one might expect from a real-estate mogul turned art collector (although not from a future president). In ignorance of both form and content - to say nothing of their unity - the painting is reduced to its sheer exchange value, concentrated in the signature guaranteeing its authenticity.
Author: | Ross ShieldsORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-657794 |
URL: | https://www.zflprojekte.de/zfl-blog/2021/02/15/ross-shields-the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-trump/ |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.13151/zfl-blog/20210215-01 |
ISSN: | 2748-5072 |
Parent Title (German): | ZfL Blog : Blog des Leibniz-Zentrums für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin |
Series (Serial Number): | ZfL Blog : Blog des Leibniz-Zentrums für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin (15.02.2021) |
Publisher: | Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin |
Place of publication: | Berlin |
Document Type: | Part of Periodical |
Language: | English |
Date of Publication (online): | 2022/01/26 |
Date of first Publication: | 2021/02/15 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2022/03/04 |
GND Keyword: | Benjamin, Walter; Das Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit; Authentizität; Kunst; Aura <Philosophie> |
Volume: | 2021 |
Issue: | 15.02.2021 |
Page Number: | 5 |
First Page: | 1 |
Last Page: | 5 |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 8 Literatur / 80 Literatur, Rhetorik, Literaturwissenschaft / 800 Literatur und Rhetorik |
Sammlungen: | CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft |
CompaRe | Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft / Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin | |
Zeitschriften / Jahresberichte: | ZfL Blog : Blog des Leibniz-Zentrums für Literatur- und Kulturforschung, Berlin |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung 3.0 |