Geostorie. Kenneth Clark e il provincialismo come problema.

Published in 1962 and again in 1981, Kenneth Clark’s Provincialism has come up often in reflections on art history and its methods, objectives, and nature as a discipline. The essay deals with the problem of provincialism in visual arts and works from a situated perspective like the history of English art in the 18 th and 19 th centuries. It has been influential in the general debate over models of affirmation and diffusion of style, factors favoring these processes, elements and characteristics that determine the spaces of artistic production, and the dynamics of actuation and exchange. Furthermore, Clark’s theme was crucial for the future of contemporary British art, which he supported as a sponsor and generous patron. From this standpoint, the Famous Dinner Service – a work vanished from the horizon of critics and art historians and now considered one of the most interesting works of Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell – would seem to be worthy of deeper consideration: the artists created the set for Clark in open (and amused) polemic with his aspirations and expectations as a patron.