The Reality Of Modern Art

Meyer Schapiro is an extraordinary representative of the first generation of Americanart historians. His academic activities mainly referred to the realms of The Medievalart and Modern art. His criticism about the relationship between Modern art and thosesocial activities at that time gave great support to Modern art, and was helpful for usto understand and evaluate Modern art. Schapiro’s writing contains many methods,which including Marxist Approach, Social history method, psychoanalysis, formalanalysis, Image study method and semiotic approach combined with his teaching havegreat influence on subsequent artists and art historians. This paper aims to searchSchapiro’s early activities and his writing about the relevance between art and societyin order to explain the Marxism’s influence on him; to discuss his paper on Modernart for the purpose of clarifying his special identity in Marxist critics; and to analyzehis critical using of psychoanalysis to unfold his comprehensiveapplication of manymethods. Through all these, I hope to sketch a simple image of an American scholarof free spirit and independent mind.