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The main focus of this diploma thesis is Jiří Kotalík, his relationship with the United States of America and projects in which he participated as the director of the National Gallery in Prague. To understand projects, it was necessary to clarify the broader circumstances, especially the relationship of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic to the United States of America and the cultural policy of both states. Therefore, the time frame was extended, both in the historical introduction and the first exhibition of American art in Czechoslovakia in 1947. It was also necessary to put into context the purpose for which large traveling exhibitions and other US cultural projects were organized and what reception they caused in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. The six largest exhibitions of American art, which took place in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic in the years 1967-1990, were selected as a sample. In the end, other forms of cooperation of the National Gallery, respectively Jiří Kotalík with American institutions were indicated but also other forms of promotion of Czechoslovak art in the United States of America were indicated. Key words: Jiří Kotalík, National Gallery in Prague, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, USA, Thomas Messer, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, propaganda, cultural policy,...

This research focuses on agencification and quangocratisation (AQ) through a comparison of the experiences of South Korea and the UK. Although a number of studies of AQ have been produced recently, these reforms remain inadequately understood. Since AQ involves the structural disaggregation of administrative units from existing departments, executive agencies and quangos have distinct characteristics which are quite different from ordinary core departments. There are a number of factors which influence these changes; and this thesis explores nine existing theories which are available to explain these phenomena. Case studies are presented of Tate Modern in the UK and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA), which are carefully analysed to examine the validity of those nine arguments. Although cultural agencies, which show some unique features, have become increasingly an essential part of the national economy, they have scarcely been researched from the viewpoint of public policy. This thesis endeavours to explore distinctive characteristics of this policy area; and moreover, it examines the diverse variables which have an impact on policy formation and its results through the process of comparison of arguments. The major tasks of this thesis are to investigate the applicability of the nine arguments and to weigh their merits. As a corollary of this comprehensiveness, it examines the whole public sectors of both countries, in order to show the broader picture and to understand the processes of changes and their backgrounds. More profoundly, similarities and differences between both countries are compared from both macro and micro perspectives. At the same time, the results of AQ are analysed through the comparison of outputs or outcomes before and after these changes, with a view to exploring whether their rationales are appropriate. Furthermore, it also examines the institutional constraints which influence not only the change of agencies but also their performances. Besides which, it seeks to find strategies for overcoming these constraints. This thesis adopts systematic and comprehensive approaches regarding basic concepts and data. It draws on theories of comparative research, the scope of the public sector, the classification and analysis of agencies and quangos, and theories underlying the detailed components of each argument and epistemological assumptions. Therefore, it suggests various aspects which enable us to broaden our understanding of the changes within the public sector; and to generate practical understanding to inform real world reform.

This thesis proposes elements for a cognitive anthropology of visual art. Most works of art are human-made objects that cannot be approached in purely functional terms, and as such they frustrate important cognitive expectations that people have about artefacts. For this reason, it is hypothesised that art triggers speculation about the artist’s intention, and that it is intuitively approached as a form of communication. By application of Bloom’s (1996) theory of artefact categorisation, and Sperber and Wilson’s (1986/1995) relevance theory of communication, a series of predictions are generated for art categorisation (or definition), art appreciation, and art cultural distribution. Two empirical studies involving more than 1,000 participants tested the most important of these predictions. In study 1, a relationship was found between how much a series of works of art were liked and how easy they were to understand. Study 2 comprised four experiments. In experiment 1, a series of hyperrealistic paintings were preferred when they were labelled as paintings than when they were labelled as photographs. In experiments 2a and 2b, a series of paintings were considered easier to understand and, under some conditions, were preferred, when they were accompanied by titles that made it easier to understand the artist’s intention. In experiment 3, a series of artefacts were more likely to be considered “art” when they were thought to have been created intentionally than when they were thought to have been created accidentally. The results of studies 1 and 2 confirmed the predictions tested, and are interpreted in the framework of relevance theory. The art experience involves speculation about the artist’s intention, and it is partly assessed as a form of communication that is constrained by relevance dynamics. Implications for anthropology of art, psychology of art, and the art world are discussed.

The photographic series Ideal Cities that I started in 2011 is inspired by the conflict between my idea of the “west” and my evolving experience in the United States. What struck me was the popularity of what I see as model experience – a spatial experience controlled by the Spectacle. In the terms of the Situationist International and its most prominent figure Guy Debord, the Spectacle is the collapse of reality into the streams of images, products and activities sanctioned by centralized monopolist business or state bureaucracy. Thus, personal experience is replaced with preconceived notions, which control the way people perceive and understand their surroundings.

Cette thèse avance une hypothèse nouvelle à l’énigme du décor de la Galerie François 1er de Fontainebleau, teste son efficacité sur la totalité de ses 16 unités originelles, cadres compris, et argumente la question de sa vraisemblance. Elle repose sur l’analyse de l’unité décrochée de l’extrémité Ouest en 1639, le Bacchus et Vénus de Rosso, aujourd’hui au MNHA de Luxembourg. Ce tableau est un unicum qui relève des mirabilia . Sous le voile d’une scène érotique, il traite de façon sophistiquée un adage récent d’Erasme, ici écourté : sans Bacchus, Vénus se refroidit. Par art de mémoire plastique, il « mémorise » aussi le schéma de la Monarchie céleste, tel que figuré dans la Treschrestienne Cabale metrifiee (1519) de Jean Thenaud et commenté dans son Traicte de la Cabale (1521), deux manuscrits commandés par François 1er . Par trois motifs en bas du tableau, il indique son mode d’emploi discursif qui s’appuie sur Erasme, puis Cues, puis Bonaventure. Enfin, c’est une peinture fabriquée comme les images artificielles irradiantes du De triplici vita de Ficin, mais sans effet magique. Ce tableau est le centre d’un dispositif à la fois intellectuel, matériel, et pratique, qui relie les 16 unités originelles et invite les princes Valois-Angoulême à une réception spécifique pour verbaliser eux-mêmes le programme de discours organisé. La base intellectuelle de ce dispositif est théologique : elle repose sur le verset de saint Paul (1 Co, XIII, 12), et se réfère à Erasme, Cues, et Bonaventure. Sa particularité est de transposer les concepts mentaux de ces penseurs chrétiens à un décor peint et stuqué, et ce, par serio ludere alors très prisé, en termes d’inventions formelles et d’usages inédits des images, pour générer les discours du programme. Parmi ces inventions, la plus remarquable est la pratique plastique de l’art de mémoire suivant ses règles classiques, dans toutes les unités, cadres compris. Le programme expose la vérité du pouvoir de la monarchie-très-chrétienne, par trois analogies spéculaires au pouvoir de la Monarchie céleste. Il définit des valeurs morales princières, mais aussi deux ambitions politiques majeures, le pouvoir absolu et l’accès à l’imperium mundi par de nouveaux arguments. Il forme le « miroir du prince » secret de la nouvelle dynastie Valois-Angoulême. Ce « miroir » cite aussi le « théâtre » de Giulio Camillo acheté par le Roi en 1530 et éclaire son fonctionnement resté énigmatique. Nous proposons Jean Thenaud associé à Rosso comme concepteurs. / This thesis puts forward a new hypothesis concerning the enigma of the décor of the Francis I Gallery in the royal palace of Fontainebleau, tests whether this hypothesis works for all 16 of its original units, frames included, and considers the question of its likelihood. It is based on an analysis of the unit removed from the western end of the gallery in 1639, Rosso Fiorentino’s Bacchus, Venus and Cupid, now hanging in the MNHA in Luxembourg. This painting is a unicum that falls into the mirabilia category. Behind the erotic scene lies a sophisticated depiction of a recent - here shortened - adage of Erasmus: without Bacchus, Venus grows cold. Using the art of memory, it also “memorises” the paradigm of the heavenly monarchy portrayed in Jean Thenaud’s Treschrestienne Cabale metrifiee (1519) and commented on in his Traicte de la Cabale (1521), two manuscripts commissioned by Francis I. The three motifs at the bottom of the work indicate its discursive modus operandi, drawing on Erasmus, then De Cues, then Bonaventure. It is a painting constructed like the radiant images of Marsilio Ficino’s De triplici vita, but without magical effect. This painting is at the centre of a simultaneously intellectual, material and practical device, linking the 16 original units and inviting a specific reception from the Valois-Angoulême princes so that they can themselves express the organised discursive programme. The intellectual basis of this device is theological in nature: it is founded on the verse of Saint Paul (1 Corinthians 13:12), and refers to Erasmus, De Cues and Bonaventure. It is unique in that it transposes the mental concepts of these Christian thinkers to a painted, stuccoed décor, following the serio ludere maxim, very popular at the time, in terms of formal inventions and original use of images to generate the programme’s rhetoric. The most remarkable of these inventions is the plastic practice of the art of memory, following its classic rules, in all the units, including the frames. The programme exposes the truth of the power of the very-Christian monarchy, via three analogies to the power of the heavenly Monarchy. It defines princely values, as well as two major political ambitions, absolute power and access to the imperium mundi using new arguments. It forms the secrete “mirror for the prince” of the new Valois-Angoulême dynasty. This “mirror” also cites the “theatre” of Giulio Camillo bought by the King in 1530 and illuminates its enigmatic function. We propose Jean Thenaud, supported by Rosso, as the creators.

Although Andrew Marvell wrote and published relatively little, his poetry collects from the full range of “schools” and idiosyncratic styles present in the seventeenth century: echoes of Herbert, Donne, Milton, Traherne, Herrick, Lovelace, and Jonson, among others, permeate throughout his work. Although much of his imagery seems novel, if not strange, it is clear that Marvell has a deep engagement with several important long-running traditions. His work is conversation with Ovid, Horace, and Theocritus as much as it responds directly to the poets whose lives overlapped with his own. In his engagement with such varied sources, Marvell demonstrates an astounding degree of poetic flexibility. He is a master of imitating voice and style.

Although Andrew Marvell wrote and published relatively little, his poetry collects from the full range of “schools” and idiosyncratic styles present in the seventeenth century: echoes of Herbert, Donne, Milton, Traherne, Herrick, Lovelace, and Jonson, among others, permeate throughout his work. Although much of his imagery seems novel, if not strange, it is clear that Marvell has a deep engagement with several important long-running traditions. His work is conversation with Ovid, Horace, and Theocritus as much as it responds directly to the poets whose lives overlapped with his own. In his engagement with such varied sources, Marvell demonstrates an astounding degree of poetic flexibility. He is a master of imitating voice and style.