Art, Object, Sense: Crossings in Anthropology and Art History – the case of Eighteenth-century France

Preparation :

General Reading :

E. H. Gombrich, The Sense of Order: A study in the psychology of decorative art (London, 1979)

K. Scott, The Rococo Interior: Decoration and social spaces in early eighteenth-century Paris (London, 1996)

A. Gell, Anthropology, Art and Aesthetics (Oxford, 1992)

T. Ingold, Making: Anthropology, Archaeology, Art and Architecture (London, 2013)

Preparation task I : for the first meeting of term (What is Ornament ? Definitions, controversies,
anachronisms)

Please come prepared to discuss the following readings :

E. H. Gombrich, “Preface”, “Part One: Decoration: Theory and practice: I. Issues of Taste; II. Ornament as
Art”, in The Sense of Order : A study in the psychology of decorative art (London, 1979), VII-XI, 17-62

A. Picon, “Introduction: Architecture and Ornament?”, “Chapter 1: A Problematic Return” and “Chapter 2:
Ornament and Subjectivity”, in Ornament: The Politics of Architecture and Subjectivity (Chichester, 2013),
9-102

K. Scott, “4. The Languages of Estates and the Logic of Decoration” and “5. A World of Distinctions”, in The
Rococo Interior : Decoration and social spaces in early eighteenth-century Paris (London, 1996), 81-117

Secondary (optional) readings:

I. Frank (ed.), The Theory of Decorative Art: An Anthology of European & American Writings, 1750-1940
(New Haven/London, 2000)

Pierre Gros, « La notion d’ornamentum de Vitruve à Alberti », Perspective, 1, 2010, 130-136

(https://perspective.revues.org/1226).

A. Loos, “Ornament and Crime”, in A. Loos, Ornament and Crime (Riverside, CA, 1998), 167-176

Preparation task II:

Select an object or a set of objects produced in eighteenth-century France and prepare a short 10-15
minute presentation (with Powerpoint) in which you define it or them from an “ornamental” point of
view.