| Summary: | This review considers Michela Passini’s study of the intertwining of nationalism and art history in France and Germany between 1870 and 1933. It emphasises the importance of Passini’s work on casting light on the neglected field of French art historiography, and the striking parallels it throws up between the two countries. Commending the insights generated by this comparative analysis, it also draws attention to some of the questions that remain to be answered. In particular, while nationalism in German art history in particular is a well known phenomenon, it presents a narrative that parallels that elsewhere in Europe. As such, the question has to be asked whether and in what way German and French art history was distinctive. Were their nationalistic politics merely episodes of a larger story, or did they present a separate story?
|
|---|
