Neevropska umjetnost u svjetlu povijesnog procesa
Non-European Art in the Light of Historical Process

Summary/Abstract: Until recently, art historians classified so-called »exotic« non-European art into a primitive category par excellence. The roots of such attitude had been in the history of Europe and the western world in general. The art of non-European world was unrecognized in accordance with the 19th century heritage in which predominated the German conception about Europe as the starting point of art. Whatever came from so-called »natural peoples« (Naturvölker) belonged to the realm of ethnology and natural sciences. Such standpoint was reflected in museum exhibits where art as a specific aspect of expressive culture did not receive separate treatment. The spiritual climate which led towards gradual recognition of non-European art — particularly African and Oceanian — did not develop among scientists. French and German revolutionary painters from the turn of the century had an avantgarde role in the discovery of the »new« art. Since then, European aesthetic consciousness has been attracted for decades to non-European art, as well as stirred by it, resulting in always new approaches and interpretations of its origin and meaning. In the 1930’s, a significant step towards the eradication of the line between the two arts was taken in Europe and America. One after another, the exhibits of art from Mexico, Peru, Oceania and other areas of the non-European world were organized. During recent times, this art has undergone renaissance on the global level. It has been represented side by side with the »high art« in the exhibits of art museums all over the World.

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