{"id":4949,"date":"2025-07-18T20:53:56","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T03:53:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949"},"modified":"2025-08-17T11:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:26:02","slug":"svetlana-alpers-on-art-and-art-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949","title":{"rendered":"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogreview.com\/issues\/lessons-of-babel\/articles\/a-distant-view\">My review<\/a> of Svetlana Alpers beautiful new book Is Art History? (Hunters Point Press, 2024) is out in  the Summer issue of <em>The Hedgehog Review<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogreview.com\/issues\/lessons-of-babel\/articles\/a-distant-view\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"400\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp 400w, https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-768x959.webp 768w, https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-1230x1536.webp 1230w, https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp 1300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div data-wp-interactive=\"core\/file\" class=\"wp-block-file\"><object data-wp-bind--hidden=\"!state.hasPdfPreview\" hidden class=\"wp-block-file__embed\" data=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/A-Distant-View-Lessons-of-Babel-Issues-The-Hedgehog-Review-1.pdf\" type=\"application\/pdf\" style=\"width:100%;height:600px\" aria-label=\"Embed of A Distant View | Lessons of Babel | Issues | The Hedgehog Review.\"><\/object><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-1f339007-d147-4139-94fc-0007c257b74c\" href=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/A-Distant-View-Lessons-of-Babel-Issues-The-Hedgehog-Review-1.pdf\">A Distant View | Lessons of Babel | Issues | The Hedgehog Review<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/A-Distant-View-Lessons-of-Babel-Issues-The-Hedgehog-Review-1.pdf\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-1f339007-d147-4139-94fc-0007c257b74c\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Perhaps this is why Alpers is befuddled by today\u2019s disciplinary confusion in which art, the master, is subjugated by art history, supposedly its emissary. Consider the following remark she made in a 2022 follow-up to the earlier conversation with Ziegler: \u201cI agree with my great, late art historian friend Michael Podro, who said that painting has self-substance that insulates it from events and changes in the world of things\u2014political, religious, or personal. Painting just goes along.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[945],"tags":[226,225,1229,1230],"class_list":["post-4949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art-history","tag-art","tag-art-history","tag-svetlana-alpers","tag-the-hedgehog-review"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps this is why Alpers is befuddled by today\u2019s disciplinary confusion in which art, the master, is subjugated by art history, supposedly its emissary. Consider the following remark she made in a 2022 follow-up to the earlier conversation with Ziegler: \u201cI agree with my great, late art historian friend Michael Podro, who said that painting has self-substance that insulates it from events and changes in the world of things\u2014political, religious, or personal. Painting just goes along.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Julia Friedman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"jfriedman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"jfriedman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"jfriedman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\"},\"headline\":\"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949\"},\"wordCount\":42,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Art\",\"Art History\",\"Svetlana Alpers\",\"The Hedgehog Review\"],\"articleSection\":[\"art history\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949\",\"name\":\"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?p=4949#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":1624},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Julia Friedman\",\"description\":\"Art History and Contemporary Art\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423\",\"name\":\"jfriedman\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"jfriedman\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juliafriedman.org\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman","og_description":"Perhaps this is why Alpers is befuddled by today\u2019s disciplinary confusion in which art, the master, is subjugated by art history, supposedly its emissary. Consider the following remark she made in a 2022 follow-up to the earlier conversation with Ziegler: \u201cI agree with my great, late art historian friend Michael Podro, who said that painting has self-substance that insulates it from events and changes in the world of things\u2014political, religious, or personal. Painting just goes along.\u201d","og_url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949","og_site_name":"Julia Friedman","article_published_time":"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":1624,"url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"jfriedman","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"jfriedman","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949"},"author":{"name":"jfriedman","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423"},"headline":"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History","datePublished":"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949"},"wordCount":42,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp","keywords":["Art","Art History","Svetlana Alpers","The Hedgehog Review"],"articleSection":["art history"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949","name":"Svetlana Alpers on Art and Art History - Julia Friedman","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg-400x500.webp","datePublished":"2025-07-19T03:53:56+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-17T18:26:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?p=4949#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/DSC_9075copyweb.jpg.webp","width":1300,"height":1624},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/","name":"Julia Friedman","description":"Art History and Contemporary Art","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/#\/schema\/person\/9120ffb6bd1d9684130c3eed0e059423","name":"jfriedman","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0cf77d93238e5347982ad42865cd8df61e2924b6583223548a94b3e12a098d78?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"jfriedman"},"url":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4949"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4978,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4949\/revisions\/4978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juliafriedman.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}