Journal of Art Historiography (Jun 2020)
Introduction: Art for the Nation: John Ruskin, Art Education and Social Change
Abstract
The eminent Victorian writer and social reformer John Ruskin (1819–1900), whose bicentenary took place in 2019, was deeply concerned throughout his working life was the power of vision: the good that he believed could arise, both for individuals and society at large, from well-trained and properly-directed visual perception, from an ability to draw, and from the opportunity to enjoy and learn from beautiful, publicly-accessible and well-maintained works of art. It was these related topics that were addressed in ‘Art for the Nation: John Ruskin, Art Education and Social Change’, a two-day conference held at the National Gallery on 20–21 September 2019. Papers from that event have been reworked for publication here and a few newly-commissioned pieces have been added to fill certain gaps. This introduction explains how, taken together, these articles consider afresh Ruskin’s interactions with and influence on the collecting, display and cataloguing of art in public and private collections in Britain and abroad, as well as his ideas concerning art education and how best to teach drawing to children and adults in Victorian Britain, asking questions about the extent to which Ruskin was working alongside or outside the British art establishment, the contributions he made to the emerging discipline of art history, and what his ideas can teach future generations of museum goers, artists, curators and funding bodies. This introduction also situates the conference and the papers published here within a broader landscape of public exhibitions, displays, conferences and other activities which took place in the bicentennial year, aimed at drawing attention to Ruskin’s life, work and legacy.
