Meyer Schapiro (1904–1996)

American art historian, Lithuanian-born, professor at Columbia University; the principal art-historical theorist of New York's abstract-expressionist circle and a major scholar of Romanesque art, Cézanne, and Van Gogh. MP's American host for the March 1949 New York visit; lifelong correspondent and friend; the principal Anglo-American art-historian whose framework MP engages with. Schapiro arranged the Columbia "Science and Philosophy" lecture (March 1949) at short notice and introduced MP to the New York intellectual circle (Harold Rosenberg, Bernard Wolfe, Mary McCarthy, Robert Warshow).

Key Points

  • Born 1904 Šiauliai, Lithuania; emigrated 1907 to NY.
  • Columbia BA 1924, PhD 1929; taught at Columbia from 1928 (associate professor 1946; full professor 1952).
  • Principal works on Romanesque art (his doctorate); on Cézanne (Cézanne, 1952); on Van Gogh (Van Gogh, 1950); on the structure of artistic style ("On Some Problems in the Semiotics of Visual Art," etc.).
  • 16 February 1949 letter from MP requesting introductions to the Mexican Spanish-exile community and to Trotsky's circle in Coyoacán (per editorial introduction).
  • Hosted MP in NY March 1949; arranged the Columbia lecture; introduced MP to the Partisan Review / Commentary circle.
  • 1947 NYC: at the center of the post-war American art-historical and art-critical scene.

Role in This Wiki

The Columbia "Science and Philosophy" lecture

MP's March 1949 visit to New York was conditional on the encounter with Schapiro and his circle. Schapiro arranged the Columbia New York Philosophical Society lecture "Science and Philosophy" (delivered in English by MP, with corrections by "my friend S. H." — possibly Sidney Hook or Stephen Heath). This is MP's earliest sustained English-language statement of his philosophy, and it would not have happened without Schapiro's arranging.

The Partisan Review / Commentary circle

Through Schapiro, MP encounters Rosenberg (subsequent correspondence on American consciousness across 1950); Bernard Wolfe (Trotskyist writer, secretary to Trotsky in 1937); Mary McCarthy (the "alcoholic evening" Rosenberg recalls); Robert Warshow; possibly Sidney Hook (the C.C.F. organizer). The circle is the American intellectual matrix that MP's 1949 NY visit makes structurally available.

The art-historical influence

Schapiro's work on Cézanne (1952), Van Gogh (1950), and Romanesque art is contemporary with MP's work on the same artists in L'Œil et l'esprit (1960) and the Mexico III conferences (March 1949). The two frameworks engage but do not converge: Schapiro's social-historical art history vs MP's phenomenological aesthetics. The 1949 encounter establishes the long-term relationship that survives both their philosophies' distance.

The Sept 1948 Trotsky correspondence

Schapiro is also the principal route of MP's research into Trotsky's milieu in Coyoacán. The 16 February 1949 MP→Schapiro letter (cited Dalissier editorial introduction) requests "renseignements et recommandations concernant l'émigration espagnole de gauche au Mexique, ainsi que Trotsky." Schapiro provides introductions; the resulting Mexican context (Hypérion group, Gaos, Spanish exiles) is what MP encounters at UNAM.

Connections

  • MP's American host — March 1949 NY arrangements.
  • connector to Rosenberg (long-term correspondence), Bernard Wolfe, Mary McCarthy.
  • art-historical contemporary of MP's late aesthetics (Eye and Mind) — Cézanne, Van Gogh both subjects of Schapiro's monographs and MP's late writings.
  • abstract-expressionist circle counterpart to MP's Parisian circle (Malraux, etc.).

Sources

  • merleau-ponty-2022-inedits-ii-1947-1949 — Dalissier editorial introduction to the New York conferences (pp. 347–348) reconstructs MP-Schapiro correspondence and the Columbia lecture's arrangements; the 16 February 1949 MP-Schapiro letter is cited.
  • M. Schapiro, Cézanne (Abrams, 1952); Van Gogh (Abrams, 1950); various essays — the principal art-historical work.