The Modern FragmentÌýand the Functions of Language
Dr Jonathan VernonÌý
In the 1950s and 1960s, the history of modern sculpture was being written,ÌýorganisedÌýand codified through surveys and survey exhibitions for the first time. InÌýthe United States, this process began with the rehabilitation of Auguste Rodin as the first modern sculptor.ÌýRodin’s new positionÌýplaced special emphasis on the relationship between the fragment and the sculptural object, and with it the independence of the part from the whole,ÌýtheÌýsculpturalÌýformÌýfrom the humanÌýfigureÌýandÌý³Ù³ó±ðÌýobjectÌýfromÌýthe frameworks that hadÌýtraditionallyÌýgiven it value and legibility.ÌýPerversely, the fragment came to stand for wholeness and autonomyÌý–Ìýa sign of ruin and alienation madeÌýinto an expression ofÌýtotality.Ìý
This paper asks howÌýwe might understand the meaning andÌýstructure of the modern fragmentÌýas it was codified in the post-War eraÌýthroughÌýlanguageÌýand linguistics, andÌýespecially in relation toÌýmetaphor and metonymy, symbolism and indexicality,ÌýandÌýreference and self-reference.ÌýIn what termsÌýcouldÌýthe autonomous modernist objectÌýhave been said toÌýrefer backÌýto ³Ù³ó±ðÌýfragment and ³Ù³ó±ðÌýparadigm of figure sculpture?ÌýHow did the fragment’s historical coding function inÌýthe context of ³Ù³ó±ðÌýtwentiethÌýcentury?ÌýWhat canÌýweÌýlearn byÌýthinkingÌýaboutÌý³Ù³ó±ðÌýways in whichÌýnarratives ofÌýmodern sculptureÌýhave been structuredÌýin relation to systems of language?ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý
ToÌýanswer these questions, the paperÌýassesses the work of art historiansÌýand criticsÌýsuch as Albert E. ElsenÌýand Michael FriedÌýthrough ³Ù³ó±ðÌýworkÌýof contemporaries focused on the study and philosophy of language,Ìýnamely Roman Jakobson and Stanley Cavell.ÌýIn doing so, the paper alsoÌýseeks toÌýcaptureÌýthe power andÌýinfluenceÌýofÌýparticularÌýwaysÌýof thinking aboutÌýart, language and thoughtÌýin the moment that modernism became history.Ìý
Dr Jonathan Vernon is an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University. In 2020–21 he was a Leonard A. Lauder Postdoctoral Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. HeÌýwas awardedÌýhis PhDÌýbyÌýthe Courtauld Institute of Art, London, in 2019, and he was the Ridinghouse Contributing Editor atÌýTheÌýBurlington MagazineÌýfrom 2014 to 2017. His research has also been funded by the Terra Foundation for American ArtÌýand the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, and his workÌýhasÌýbeen published byÌýArt History,ÌýThe Art NewspaperÌýandÌýTate, amongÌýothers.ÌýÌý
Barbara Hepworth, language and feeling
Dr Rachel Rose SmithÌý
This paper introduces the art of Barbara Hepworth in relation to ideas around language and poetry. Referring mainly to two periods in her career, it considers the artist’s written descriptions of her sculptural aspirations as she began to make more abstract carvings during the early 1930s, as well as her reading of poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, whose volumes she acquired during the early 1940s. While referring to the words of contemporaries who tried to articulate the new effects of her sculptures, it also considers the potential usefulness of some writers on poetry and expression more broadly. By bringing heightened awareness to ³Ù³ó±ðÌýwords used to describe her forms and their effects, it hopes to facilitate an opening out of her sculptures to realms of languages, categories and sentiments which surround them, and to encourage us to ask and answer basic questions about the facts of their physical presences.Ìý
Rachel Rose Smith is a researcher and curator living in London. Since September 2020 she has been editing the catalogue raisonné of Ben Nicholson’s paintings and reliefs. Her previous research has centred on artists working in West Cornwall, particularly the work of Barbara Hepworth. She completed her PhD in 2015, when she became Curator of ³Ù³ó±ðÌýHeongÌýGallery at Downing College, and then Assistant Curator of Modern British Art at Tate Britain.Ìý
Organised by Dr Caroline Levitt (The Courtauld)Ìý