“The Greatest Revolution in Art”: Reinterpreting Roger Fry’s Byzantinism

Year 2022, , 355 - 386, 28.06.2022

Sander Oosterom

https://doi.org/10.26650/sty.2022.1068080

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in formalism
throughout the humanities. Within the field of art history in particular, the
emergence of a new formalism has been accompanied by a renewed interest
in its historical manifestations. The British art critic Roger Fry (1866-1934)
is one of those early formalists whose work has moved to the center of
attention again. After having long been dismissed for his high modernist
fixation on form at the exclusion of meaning, recent studies have shown that
Fry’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 his
lifelong interest in Byzantine art. Although it has widely been recognized
that Byzantine art played a crucial role in Fry’s theories, and was regarded
by him as an important precursor of the avant-garde of his day (most
notably the Post-Impressionism of Cézanne), I argue that the nature of his
Byzantinism has long been misunderstood. Rather than being merely of
formal interest to him, I demonstrate that Fry’s interest in Byzantine art is
deeply historical, and his Byzantinism is nothing but an attempt to salvage
art’s spiritual aura in a disenchanted world. 

Keywords

Formalism, Roger Fry, Byzantinism, Modernism, Post-Impressionism

“Sanatta Büyük Devrim”: Roger Fry’ın Bizantinizminin Yeniden Yorumlanması

Abstract

Son yıllarda, beşeri bilimler alanında biçimciliğe (formalizm) olan ilgi yeniden
canlanmıştır. Özellikle sanat tarihi alanında, yeni bir biçimciliğin ortaya çıkışına
biçimciliğin tarihsel tezahürlerine karşı ilginin canlanması da eşlik etmiştir.
İngiliz sanat eleştirmeni Roger Fry (1866-1934), çalışmaları yeniden ilgi odağı
haline gelen ilk biçimcilerden biridir. Anlamın dışlanmasındaki modernist
saplantısı nedeniyle uzun süre göz ardı edildikten sonra, son çalışmalar Fry'ın
görüşlerinin genellikle varsayıldığından daha karmaşık ve nüanslı olduğunu
göstermiştir. Bu makalede, Fry'ın biçimciliğini, Bizans sanatına ömür boyu
süren ilgisine özel bir vurgu yapılarak yeniden gözden geçirilecektir. Bizans
sanatının Fry'ın teorilerinde çok önemli bir rol oynadığı ve Fry’a göre zamanın
avangardının, özellikle de Cézanne'ın Post-Empresyonizminin önemli bir
habercisi olarak kabul edildiği geniş çapta onaylansa da, Fry’ın Bizanscılığının
doğası 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 bir
dünyada sanatın maneviyatını kurtarma girişiminden başka bir şey olmadığını göstermeyi hedeflemektedir. 

Keywords

Biçimcilik, Roger Fry, Bizans, Modernizm, Post-Empresyonizm

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