The Tyranny of the Object: An Introduction to the Barbarism of Art History

In this lively polemic, Paul B. Jaskot confronts art history's ideological preoccupation with the art object. To unbind art history from this fixation, Jaskot proposes a shift: to centre systems of power in our art-historical inquiry, rather than the art object. Modelling this shift, Jaskot asks: what does an art history of oppression, power and barbarism look like? The study that follows is divided into three parts-empire, war and labour-which draw from a constellation of examples ranging from the architecture of Nazi Germany and the Pre-modern era to the trans-Atlantic slave trade and contemporary exhibition making. Also featuring a photo essay by Steve Harp, this book presents a sweeping historical analysis of structural oppression, but more broadly, a prescient case for how art history can make a meaningful contribution to understanding systems of power and why such a project is needed now more than ever. Paul B. Jaskot's The Tyranny of the Object: An Introduction to the Barbarism of Art History is the third title for Power Polemics, a series that puts art hard up against political and personal viewpoints from some of the leading thinkers and writers in the field today.