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Mondrian Lecture

1987 MONDRIAN LECTURE SHADES OF MEANING – ON THE POSSIBILITY OF COLOR CULTURES — SIMON SCHAMA — The Mondrian Lecture was given by the English cultural historian Simon Schama, who works in America, in the Stadsschouwburg in Eindhoven on 19 December. He is known for his recently published book The Embarrass- ment of Riches, a monumental work on art and culture in the Northern Netherlands in the 17th century, which was quite controversial. Is there such a thing as a cultural history of color? Scha- ma considered this to be a difficult question, as the histo- rical discipline likes to see itself as being colorless, intel- lectually transparent and objective. Popular historical literature colors history as it likes, and according to the academics this is not a good thing. Schama is not one of these strict historians. On the contrary, he even descri- bed himself as being shamelessly subjective. However, for him the subject of color in art history was also a recal- citrant problem. Of all the elements that compose a pain- ting, color is the least open to any systematic cultural analysis. For example, iconology, the scientifc method for interpreting the representation of an art work is based on meanings which lie outside the painting and are rela- ted to other historical sources. A formal quality, such as drawing techniques, can also be examined with the help of historical sources on the theory of proportions or per- spectives. However, color is part of the aesthetics of the painted surface, a product of two possible impulses – the natura- list and aesthetic impulses. Neither of these appears to lend itself to historical research. On the one hand, the knowledge of optical perception and the translated illusi- on of the art of painting appear to be too universal to be infuenced by something like taste. On the other hand, the arbitrary aesthetics of color of individual artists are too personal for it to be possible to say anything that is generally applicable about culturally determined choices. Color is an unexplored area in the history of art and cul- ture. Back to index