The Art and Politics of Statues Representing “Leaders”: A Case Study

摘要

There are two main themes in this case study of sculpture, aesthetics, and politics. First, from the viewpoint of artistic quality, the article discusses various failed features of the recent (2018) bronze statue in Belgrade of Patriarch Pavle of the Serbs (1914-2009), the prominent and widely revered head of the Serbian Orthodox Church: The work’s hugely inadequate balance, pose, location, workmanship, and others. Second, the article critically describes the long-term and current political forces that constitute the social background of the design, location, and other aspects of the statue. Some of these influences are unique to Serbia in the period 1980-2018; others seem to be shared by several countries in Europe that are considered “transitional” from communism to neo-liberal capitalism.