THE END OF ART – WHAT ART? WHAT END?

Abstract

From Pliny the Elder to Danto, passing throughVasari and Hegel, we find a whole series of proclamationsof the end of art. What marks out the radical nature ofDanto’s position is the fact that not only does he claim thatso far we have not been able to structured history of art in anew narrative manner, but he is also convinced that such anarrative is henceforth unattainable. Just as it was forHegel, the passage from the age of art to the age ofphilosophy is characterized by Danto as the emancipation ofart in relation to philosophical constraints. However, afundamental contradiction becomes apparent. If it is truethat “everything is permitted†in contemporary art, this isdue to the fact that “a certain theory of art†legitimizes it,which, in the final analysis, does not free art from alltheoretical constraints.Index Terms ⎯ Arthur Danto, Art Narratives, End of Art,Hegel.