ART BEFORE THE LAW This page intentionally left blank Art before the Law RUTH RONEN UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press 2014 Toronto Buffalo London www.utppublishing.com Printed in Canada ISBN 978-1-4426-4788-6 Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer recycled paper with vegetable-based inks Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Ronen, Ruth, 1958–, author Art before the law / Ruth Ronen. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4426-4788-6 (bound) 1. Art and morals. I. Title. N72.E8R65 2014 701 C2014-900129-0 University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities. This project on art and ethics was supported by ISF – Israel Science Fund. Contents List of Figures and Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction: By Way of the Law 3 1 By Way of Negation 19 2 By Way of Beauty 39 3 By Way of Truth 67 4 By Way of Deception 93 (written with efrat biberman) 5 By Way of Prohibition 123 Conclusion 159 Notes 161 Bibliography 179 Index 185 This page intentionally left blank Figures and Illustrations Figures 1.1 Ergo as intersecting set 32 1.2 Ergo as disjunctive set 33 5.1 The structure of the law 136 5.2 The structure of the aesthetic law 137 Illustrations 1 Andrea Mantegna (1431–1506), the oculus with cherubs and girls, detail from the vault, 1465–74 40 2 Samuel van Hoogstraten, A Trompe l’Oeil of Objects Attached to a Letter Rack, 1664 99 3 John F. Peto, Office Board, 1885 100 4 Thomas Demand, Fenster/Window, 1998 101 5 Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Empty Room, 1995–6 107 6 Michelangelo’s fresco of The Creation of Adam 141 7 Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi da) (1573–1610), The Sacrifice of Isaac, ca. 1603–4 155 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments The research, writing, and publication of this book were supported by the ISF (Israel Science Foundation).