La Tribune de l’Art is an online news magazine specialising in art history and heritage from the Middle Ages to the 1930s. It has been in existence for twenty years, and from now on it will also have an English version. The site is French, but we never wanted to limit ourselves to our country. We try, as much as possible, to talk about what is happening abroad, in Europe and the United States and Canada in particular, since we limit ourselves to the history of Western art. We don’t talk about Antiquity or archaeology, nor about contemporary art, nor about African or Oceanic art, nor about Asian art. We prefer to talk about what we know best, and this keeps us busy. The only exceptions we can make relate to museum policy, and in particular to the issue of the return of works of art.
Below we publish what we wrote when we launched this site, and what we were committed to doing. Those who know us know that we have kept exactly to it, and so we can publish it again here, in English, even if at the time we were focusing on the question of heritage in France. Of course, we have been talking primarily about this country, and we will continue to do so, but we have rapidly extended our field and we will try, in the future, to be even more interested in other European countries, and in America.
« This site was born on 7 April 2003. Its subject is the history of art and western heritage from the Middle Ages to the 1930s.
All the editors share the same conception of art. First of all, they believe that art history cannot be separated from the protection of the objects it studies. Everyone knows that France is one of the richest countries in works of art, but also one of those where vandalism is most rampant. Even today, churches are destroyed, paintings are distorted by abusive restorations, and sculptures are sent to landfill. Sometimes it is even institutions that are supposed to preserve heritage that destroy it. We will not hesitate to denounce these unacceptable attacks.
This site will deviate as much as possible from the beaten track. Today, all the art magazines make their headlines on the leading exhibitions in Paris, sometimes in London. They write their articles without having seen the exhibition, based on the press kits, for reasons of publication time.
What is the point of repeating what you can read everywhere else? Of course, there will be references here to these major exhibitions when they concern our period. But the emphasis will be on exhibitions that receive little media coverage, in Paris, in the provinces or abroad, which are often, despite their modesty, much more innovative than the great Parisian machines. No criticism will be made without direct knowledge of the exhibition.
We will propose real investigative files, not necessarily linked to current events, and we will endeavour to discover little-known heritage sites, such as a chapel in a Parisian church or a newly discovered Italian painting in a provincial church.
We will try - and this is not an easy task, as information does not circulate well - to report on museum acquisitions in our own field.
We will publish scientific articles, either unpublished or already published in less accessible publications.
Finally, we will participate in the debates that regularly agitate the scientific community on the protection of heritage, restoration or the attribution of works.
As you can see, our objective is both modest and very ambitious. Although the site is open to all, it is aimed in particular at those, whether historians or simple amateurs, who have a somewhat elevated idea of art. People will undoubtedly speak of elitism. We accept the word if it is taken in the sense of being demanding. »
So we wanted to practice investigative journalism, and we stuck to that. We also do committed journalism, not politically, but in the service of museums and heritage. We always distinguish facts from our own opinion, but we want to make it known and defend it.
Journalism is not about giving the floor to someone and their opponent, leaving the reader to fend for themselves. We don’t just report what people say: if we have the means, we try to find out if they are telling the truth. And if they are destroying the heritage, we denounce it. We do not have only friends, but that is not our objective. Our aim, again and again, is to defend museums and heritage.
From now on, all articles will be published in two languages and some written directly in English, such as the one we are publishing today by Paul Jeromack. We have already translated more than 140 recent articles, and the others will follow as soon as we have the opportunity.
So welcome to this website, especially to new readers in English-speaking countries, but also to English speakers in other countries. Articles in English will be free for one month, after which they will be reserved for subscribers as they are for the French version, except when they are articles committed to the defence of heritage or museums all over the world. The subscription is only 80 euros per year or 8 euros per month. If you wish to subscribe now, you can do so from this page. It will soon be possible to pay for the subscription with an American Express card (if you do not have a Visa or Mastercard).
Enjoy your reading.