School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Research Publications

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End date: 2009 × Author: White, Anthony × Subject: art history × Subject: Mario Radice ×

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    Abstract art, ethics and interpretation: the case of Mario Radice
    WHITE, ANTHONY ( 2004)
    Modernist abstract art can be interpreted as the expression of ethical ideals. The elimination of figuration and illusionistic space in the work of abstract painters such as Piet Mondrian or Frank Stella might seem to militate against any reading of their work as embodying principles or standards of human conduct. However, I will demonstrate in this essay that a specific example of modernist abstraction, created in Italy during the 1930s, can be interpreted as responding to ethical principles articulated in the culture at large. I will also show that such principles are not inherent in the formal structure of such works, as the ethical meaning attributed to them depends upon the context in which they are received.