This blog is dedicated to the expansion of the traditional art canon. Capitalizing on Internet technology, My Art Canon seeks to provide historians and enthusiasts with a new forum to write and learn about works of art that do not typically appear in survey textbooks.
That doesn’t mean you won’t find entries about blockbuster artists like Michelangelo or Rembrandt in this blog. You probably will. And you’ll probably see some of the same examples by those artists that appear in every major textbook survey of art. My Art Canon doesn’t exclude the great art the world has come to know and love – its goal is to add as much art to the list as possible.
In addition to a fresh look at some old favorites, hopefully a lot of the artwork that appears here is less well known, largely forgotten, or never before seen. Works that are a bit of a puzzle, or don’t quite fit what the world has come to expect from a “master.” Great pieces that are filed away in the storerooms of large museums and tucked into the corners of smaller ones, often overlooked, but each with its own fascinating history waiting to be told.
And since My Art Canon is a blog and not a textbook or a museum, it also promotes the development and use of new media channels for art history. Virtual exhibitions and podcasts, are just a couple of the possibilities waiting to be explored.
My Art Canon welcomes proposals for scholarly journal entries about any work of art by any artist – known or unknown – from all periods and cultures. In the interest of scholastic excellence, sources must be cited. Also, all cultures’ expressed concerns regarding the use and display of its cultural objects as “art” must be respected. All blog entries and comments on My Art Canon adhere to established ethical standards for professional art historians and archeologists with regard to the collection and management of cultural property. My Art Canon also observes copyright law.
My Art Canon is edited and moderated by James Wehn, art history graduate student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is also the assistant curator for the Thrivent Financial Collection of Religious Art in Minneapolis.
So, what’s in your art canon?
Do you have a favorite artist or work of art? For more information about how to submit a blog entry, email James Wehn.