Roger Fry In The Form - The Art Of Cultural Criticism Theoretical Study

Roger Fry is a famous Formalism art critic in The United Kingdom of modern times. From the 19th century to the first half of the 20th century, Western art history enters the Modernism stage. Modern art's praising highly to the form had much to do whit his criticism concept. His artistic criticism theory had double characteristics including form analysis and cultural explaining. It is different both from the pure formalism and the cultural criticism in general significance, and it is more rational to be called Form-Cultural Criticism. He lays the starting point on the form of art, and goes on to visit the culture significance through the form. Although Fry uses a formalist vocabulary as criticize standard, their significance is by no means only in the formalism category. What they initiate is a kind of transform in culture. The establishment of formalist criticism means the autonomy of criticizing. It contained incisive cultural connotation. And what's more, Formalism as a aesthetics trend of thought and principle does not imply artist's personal preference. It is the challenge to the academy doctrine as one kind of ideological forms. Fry's formalism criticism had the animadvert spirit, the interdisciplinary method, the fringe position, the practicality character and it coincided with the cultural criticism to some degree in their theory ken. His theory serving as a link had the important effect in boosting the change from pure Formalism to Form- Cultural Criticism.The dissertation is composed of six parts: Prologue, Epilogue and a main Text made up of four chapters.The Prologue mainly introduces the reasons for selecting the subject, outlines the basic structure of the dissertation and gives a sketch of the content. It also indicates the theoretical value and the practical significance of the dissertation.The first chapter outlines his esthetics foundation of his artistic criticism theory and his academic origin. It has the basal and premise significance to understand his thoughts by differentiating and analyzing the esthetics foundation of his artistic criticism theory and by clearing the basic clue in his learning trend. Roger Fry is an unusual Artistic theoretician who had obtained remarkable achievements both in art theory and practice in modem England. His artistic criticism thoughts mainly have two sources in esthetics foundation, one is the German classicism esthetician Kant, another one is the Analysis philosopher More. Two important 1 principles have influence on Fry's artistic theory. One is that beauty can be transmitted universally and does not rely on the logical concept or the practical relations. This specialty becomes the possible precondition of Esthetics. Secondly, the objective validity in esthetic judgment is only related with the form, puts briefly "beauty rest with the form". These two principles become the theory standpoint of Fry's artistic criticism.More's influences made Fry oppose the traditional philosophic method and regard "beauty" has independent nature just as "good" in ethics. And from this, he thought that art and person's reality activity has essential difference whether in the goal or the method. Besides, Fry accepted the empiricism tradition, thought that all aesthetic theory must be built on individual or subjective experience, appreciation of the beauty experience is unique aesthetics material. These viewpoints have indicated that Fry extremely opposites the metaphysics and apriority in Aesthetics.As for the learning origin, the Switzerland theoretician Heinrich Wolfflin had created a kind of peculiar technical term relating to the form morphology during his research to the Classicism and Baroque art, which affected Fry's art criticism theory directly. Wolfflin thought that the change of the two artistic styles meant the change in the way in which people understand the world from the tactile way to the pure impression way. This implied people already beginning to abandon seeking the concrete matter in art but thinking the characteristic of knowing the world in an artistic manner. In the research to the Post Impressionism art, Fry thought that the artists of the post Impressionism is not just to innovate in form but to rebelled the reproduction to the real world in tradition art downright. Judging from the epistemology angle, this is an essential transforms in art history. Fry's initial objects of study also Italian art in the early renaissance period as Wolfflin, from then on he enlarged his art criticizes theory to the American art in ancient times, the Negro sculpture, the Islamic art and Chinese art etc. Started on form analysis, Fry expanded his theory ken further, and entered a large area of mentality, society, and cultural content. Therefore he came to treat the arts coming from foreign lands with grander breast, and also treat modern art from the significance of culture enlightening, and he provided forceful support to Modernism in terms of theory. As the Modern art center has transferred from Europe to the USA, the contemporary famous American art critic Greenburg has inherited Fry's theory, and according this he vindicated for the Abstract Expressionism art, and drove the development of the modern art vigorously in the USA successfully. The establishment of Fry's Form-Culture artistic criticism is a breakthrough in the history of modern art criticism.The second chapter introduces Fry's main achievement in Formalism art criticize theory and his exceeding to the limits of Formalism theory. As the inaugurator of the Formalism art criticizes, Fry's first contribution is focus the footholds of art criticize on form. The traditional mode of criticism bears too much weight of metaphysics significance and has blocked the original nature of artistic form, Fry's form-cultural criticism theory return back to the materiality, the vitality and the poetry nature of art, avoid the judgment just by the abstract definition, concept and so on. And thus offered a solid reality foundation for art. Another important characteristic of Fry's theory is to express the cultural significance from form analyses. Judging from the angle of art criticize, the nature of "culture" means the fundamental modes of thinking, the behavior sets and their external presentation cohering to the format. That is why we can seek after the structure and significance of culture from the basic characteristic of form. This part focuses on these viewpoints such as "The Significance of Form", "The Double Life", "The array comments on form" and Fry's comment on form simplification and abstract etc.The third chapter discusses the relation about the creation of form and the society context in Fry's theory which emphasis his cultural cross-examines to the structure of form. The existence of art can't be separated from the society where it develops, involves and serves, art criticizes must grasp the relation of art and society therefore, place art in a culture background and the society context for a relatively correct understanding. This society context ought to including history (tradition), times, nation and economy, (marketplace) ,etc, they engender a combined social strength and act on the whole course of art creation. As a material visual form, art works have embodied the basic manner in which the artist made conversations with the external world. The creation of art is dependent on the special national mentality structure of the beauty to a large degree, and unable to be separated from the infiltration of culture tradition. The development of art has the brand of times, and also may accept restraint of economy condition. Criticism should try to discover the correspondence relationship between form structure and the cultural structure in order to master the profound mystery of the interaction between art words and society context. This part includes the following aspects: Cognitions to the spirit structure of an artist's vision; inheritance and exceed of "preexistent pattern"; the historical accumulation of form; the interactive action of art and economy, and so on.The forth chapter discusses the relation of article criticism and Modernism cultural politics in Fry's theory. Fry's critical practices are divided into two parts. One is the actual criticize, that is the comment on specific artist and artworks. The other one is the criticizing activity, which is what we say as mastermind today. Being a professional critic, Fry planned and took part in modern art movement, argued against the guard. He devoted himself ardently to the society culture reforming works and made great efforts in building a communicating bridge between the public and the modern artists. For the close contacts with modern artist circles, Fry's criticize has a latent revolutionary strength. It shows sufficiently Fry's courage and wisdom as a modern art theoretician. The chapter talks about the relationship of Fry and the Modernism art movement, opens out the international characteristic of modern art, and recites the argument process on this question with plenty of detailed information. Besides, the chapter also discusses about the rough course which Fry established the valuation standard for modem art, and points out the developing trend of Fry's form-culture art criticism theory.The epilogue gives a brief sketch of the practical significance of Fry's theory and makes a valuation and analysis of Fry's thought. It mainly includes two points: one is the enlightenment coming from the theory ken of Fry's form-culture criticism. In his theory the traditional split of form and content can be able to fuse. It does not regard the artist's subjectivity as the form content simply, but brings the form into a culture strategy. It has revealed the serious historical theme under the surface of optical signs. This method has exceeded the limitation both in form criticism and in culture criticism, and has made a whole effect both from the inside and outside. The second point is the self-examination about the problem of nationality and modernity in art criticism. Article critic should be the person who would show the duty of artworks and prompt the civilization of an age. In globalization context, how to balance the multiplicity in spirit need of human being, how to keep and continue our cultural tradition, how to grasp the current situation that art develops, forecast the future, and construct our art criticism are the important problems we are going to confront with. Fry's Form-Cultural Criticism theory may be used for reference on treating traditional art and modern art, on the attitude for foreign art, and on the enlightening of our rational consciousness.