On the Philosophy of Central European Art

This book is an introduction to the history of the concept and institution of art, from its development in Central Europe to its later global expansion through colonialism and diaspora. It consider how class, gender, and race challenge highbrow notions of art and develops the concept of nobrow as a way to democratize the future of art.

This book is an introduction to the history of the concept and the institution of (fine) art, from its ancient Southern European roots to the establishment of the modern system of the arts in eighteenth century Central Europe. It highlights the way the concept and institution of (fine) art, through colonialism and diaspora, conquered the world. Ryynänen presents globally competing frameworks from India to Japan but also describes how the art system debased local European artistic cultures (by women, members of the working class, etc) and how art with the capital A appropriated not just non-Western but also Western alternatives to art (popular culture). The book discusses alternative art forms such as sport, kitsch, and rap music as pockets of resistance and resources for future concepts of art. Ultimately, the book introduces nobrow as an alternative to high and low, a new concept that sheds light on the democratic potentials of the field of art and invites reader to rethink the nature of art.

Preface: Know Your Enemies

Introduction: Why Should Kids in the Suburbs Learn the Aesthetic Hobbies of the Eighteenth-Century Central European Upper Class?

Chapter 1: The Central European System of Art

Chapter 2: Diaspora, Colonialism, Overshadowed Alternatives

Chapter 3: Highbrow as Cultural Appropriation

Chapter 4: The Lively Arts: Kitsch, Ice Skating and Other Attempts to Foster the Beautiful

Chapter 5: A New Art Form”: How Rap Music Knocked on the Door of the Art System in the 1990s

Chapter 6: Nobrow