Pierre Francastel (8 June 1900 – 2 January 1970) was a French

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, best known for his use of sociological method. Francastel's initial period of study was in literature, at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. He worked in building conservation at

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

while undertaking research toward his doctoral degree, which was on the sculpture of Versailles, and in 1928 he published a monograph, including a critical catalogue, on the seventeenth-century French sculptor

François Girardon François Girardon (10 March 1628 – 1 September 1715) was a French sculptor of the Louis XIV style or French Baroque, best known for his statues and busts of Louis XIV and for his statuary in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. Biography ...

. In 1930, he was appointed director of the

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

''Institut français'', and in 1936 he was appointed professor at the University in

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

. In 1948, he was created inaugural Professor of the Sociology of Art at the

École pratique des hautes études The École pratique des hautes études (), abbreviated EPHE, is a Grand Établissement in Paris, France. It is highly selective, and counted among France's most prestigious research and higher education institutions. It is a constituent college o ...

in Paris. Francastel's research interests varied between the French seventeenth century and the nineteenth century, but his sociological methodology, strongly influenced by the work of

Émile Durkheim David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...

, remained the intellectual basis upon which his scholarly thought and corpus were organised. Francastel is also noted for his promotion of spatial concerns, both physical and conceptual, prefiguring the "spatial turn" of later scholars such as

Henri Lefebvre Henri Lefebvre ( , ; 16 June 1901 – 29 June 1991) was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for pioneering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of so ...

.C. Doyon, "Francastel, Pierre (1900-1970)", ''Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing'', ed. D.R. Woolf (New York, 1998), vol. 1, p. 326. Two of his key works, that emphasise Francastel's view of art as a system both embedded within and productive of social relations, are his ''Art et Sociologie'' (1948) and ''Peinture et Société'' (1951).

Key works

*''Girardon. Biographie et catalogue critiques, l’œuvre complète de l’artiste'' (Paris, 1928) *''La sculpture de Versailles. Essai sur les origines et l’évolution du gout français classique'' (Paris, 1930) *''Art et Technique aux 19e et 20e siècles (Paris, 1956). English translation by Randall Cherry: ''Art & Technology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'' (New York, 2000) *''La réalité figurative : éléments structurels de sociologie de l'art'' (Paris, 1965)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francastel, Pierre Writers from Paris 1900 births 1970 deaths Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études 20th-century French historians French art historians French Resistance members University of Paris alumni

Key works

Further reading

References