Sanat Tarihi Yıllığı 0579-4080 2717-6940 Istanbul University 10.26650/sty.2022.1068080 “The Greatest Revolution in Art”: Reinterpreting Roger Fry’s Byzantinism “Sanatta Büyük Devrim”: Roger Fry’ın Bizantinizminin Yeniden Yorumlanması https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3330-3529 Oosterom Sander Cornell University, German Dept. 06 28 2022 31 355 386 02 04 2022 06 12 2022 Copyright © 1964, Journal of Art History 1964 Journal of Art History

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in formalismthroughout the humanities. Within the field of art history in particular, theemergence of a new formalism has been accompanied by a renewed interestin its historical manifestations. The British art critic Roger Fry (1866-1934)is one of those early formalists whose work has moved to the center ofattention again. After having long been dismissed for his high modernistfixation on form at the exclusion of meaning, recent studies have shown thatFry’s position is more complex and nuanced than has often been assumed.In this article, I will revisit Fry’s formalism with a particular emphasis on hislifelong interest in Byzantine art. Although it has widely been recognizedthat Byzantine art played a crucial role in Fry’s theories, and was regardedby him as an important precursor of the avant-garde of his day (mostnotably the Post-Impressionism of Cézanne), I argue that the nature of hisByzantinism has long been misunderstood. Rather than being merely offormal interest to him, I demonstrate that Fry’s interest in Byzantine art isdeeply historical, and his Byzantinism is nothing but an attempt to salvageart’s spiritual aura in a disenchanted world.

Son yıllarda, beşeri bilimler alanında biçimciliğe (formalizm) olan ilgi yenidencanlanmıştır. Özellikle sanat tarihi alanında, yeni bir biçimciliğin ortaya çıkışınabiçimciliğin tarihsel tezahürlerine karşı ilginin canlanması da eşlik etmiştir.İngiliz sanat eleştirmeni Roger Fry (1866-1934), çalışmaları yeniden ilgi odağıhaline gelen ilk biçimcilerden biridir. Anlamın dışlanmasındaki modernistsaplantısı nedeniyle uzun süre göz ardı edildikten sonra, son çalışmalar Fry'ıngörüşlerinin genellikle varsayıldığından daha karmaşık ve nüanslı olduğunugöstermiştir. Bu makalede, Fry'ın biçimciliğini, Bizans sanatına ömür boyusüren ilgisine özel bir vurgu yapılarak yeniden gözden geçirilecektir. Bizanssanatının Fry'ın teorilerinde çok önemli bir rol oynadığı ve Fry’a göre zamanınavangardının, özellikle de Cézanne'ın Post-Empresyonizminin önemli birhabercisi olarak kabul edildiği geniş çapta onaylansa da, Fry’ın Bizanscılığınındoğası uzun zamandır yanlış anlaşılmıştır. Bu çalışma Fry'ın Bizans sanatına olan ilgisinin sadece şekilsel değil tarihsel bir derinliği olduğunu ve Fry’ın Bizanscılığının, büyüsü bozulmuş birdünyada sanatın maneviyatını kurtarma girişiminden başka bir şey olmadığını göstermeyi hedeflemektedir.

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