The Aesthetics of the Modern: Art, Education, and Taste in Egypt 1903-1952
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation explores the ways in which an educational mission was central to the conceptualization, production, and consumption of the category of modern art in Egypt during the first half of the twentieth century. It is structured as a series of four case studies, each offering a rereading of a moment that has been repeatedly highlighted in the literature as a turning point in the development of modern art but that remains unexamined. Chapter One is a study of a fatwa by the leading Islamic reformer, Muhammad `Abduh, which is considered to be his declaration of support for representational art. In a close reading of this understudied text, I demonstrate the ways in which this fatwa has been misinterpreted and misappropriated; `Abduh never mentions "art" [al-fann] specifically but instead discusses the merits of pictorial representation [al-taswir] as a form of visual knowledge, a useful tool for preservation and learning. Chapter Two focuses on the establishment of the School of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1908. Relying on largely unexamined material, I describe and analyze the prevalent discourses that shaped the kind of education that the school offered, the perceptions its founders, faculty, and students had of its role, and ultimately the role of modern art and the artist within Egyptian society. The second half of the dissertation attends to the reception and consumption of art through the development of art criticism [al-naqd al-fanni] and the role of journals in educating Egyptian audiences. Chapter Three is a study of and Sawt el-Fannan [The Voice of the Artist, 1950-2], "the first monthly magazine for the fine arts." I focus here on the writing of art history and criticism as a means of educating Egyptian eyes to see and appreciate in a specific set of ways. The notion of taste [dhawq] and its complex social and moral functions demonstrate that what is at stake here is something much larger than an aesthetic sensibility. Chapter Four examines Al-Tatawwur, …
abstract: This dissertation explores the ways in which an educational mission was central to the conceptualization, production, and consumption of the category of modern art in Egypt during the first half of the twentieth century. It is structured as a series of four case studies, each offering a rereading of a moment that has been repeatedly highlighted in the literature as a turning point in the development of modern art but that remains unexamined. Chapter One is a study of a fatwa by the leading Islamic reformer, Muhammad `Abduh, which is considered to be his declaration of support for representational art. In a close reading of this understudied text, I demonstrate the ways in which this fatwa has been misinterpreted and misappropriated; `Abduh never mentions "art" [al-fann] specifically but instead discusses the merits of pictorial representation [al-taswir] as a form of visual knowledge, a useful tool for preservation and learning. Chapter Two focuses on the establishment of the School of Fine Arts in Cairo in 1908. Relying on largely unexamined material, I describe and analyze the prevalent discourses that shaped the kind of education that the school offered, the perceptions its founders, faculty, and students had of its role, and ultimately the role of modern art and the artist within Egyptian society. The second half of the dissertation attends to the reception and consumption of art through the development of art criticism [al-naqd al-fanni] and the role of journals in educating Egyptian audiences. Chapter Three is a study of and Sawt el-Fannan [The Voice of the Artist, 1950-2], "the first monthly magazine for the fine arts." I focus here on the writing of art history and criticism as a means of educating Egyptian eyes to see and appreciate in a specific set of ways. The notion of taste [dhawq] and its complex social and moral functions demonstrate that what is at stake here is something much larger than an aesthetic sensibility. Chapter Four examines Al-Tatawwur, …
author: Ramadan, DIna
language: English
keywords: Art, Modern, Art, Egyptian, Art and society, Art, Modern--Periodicals, Aesthetics, Figurative art, Art--Study and teaching (Higher), Muḥammad ʻAbduh, 1849-1905, Rivera, Diego, 1886-1957, Breton, André, 1896-1966
date published: 2013
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:44:27Z
provider: Columbia University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Columbia University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.7916/D8J965CC