The Sublime in Visual Art : from the Romantic To the Postmodern Sublime

[摘要] This dissertation examines the sublime and the context in which it evolved. To explore the changes that have taken place, the investigation around this concept has been situated within three moments: Romanticism, Modernism and Postmodernism. Representative artworks within these periods have been identified and compared in order to bring art and philosophy together.The Romantic understanding of sublimity finds awe in nature, in its vastness and terror. Sublimity was also found in the ability of the artist to open understanding of limitlessness and the mysteries of the mind and the universe. The Modernists developed some of the ideas of the Romantics in the essence of abstract art, but questioned Romantic aspirations of the absolute by probing the subconscious and the notion of chaos. The Postmodernists rewrite the previous movements in a vision of pluralism and (within the Neo-Romantic perspective) spirituality. The restructuring of the sublime within a contemporary paradigm attempts to point towards the future relevance of this concept.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria