Banal art history. Baroque, modernization and official cinematography in Franco’s Spain

Abstract

In this article the newsreels made by Noticiarios y Documentales Cinematográficos (Cinematographic Newsreels and Documentaries, NO-DO), the official film production company created by Francoism, will be analyzed in order to shed light on the political, cultural and social role played by the presentation of art and art history to a wide public under Francoism. Special attention will be devoted to the role played by the imaginaries associated with the visual arts of the baroque and the Golden Age and to the ways in which they crossed paths with the construction of a national identity and the changes experimented by the dictatorship. This will show to what extent ‘banal art history’ can play a relevant role in ‘banal nationalism’ as defined by Michael Billig.

Keywords

• NO-DO
• Baroque
• Golden Age
• modernization
• Spanish art
• tourism
• banal nationalism
• banal art history