Yorkshire's audacious bid for title of 'sculpture capital of Europe' reflects the narrow nationalism of the art establishment
Britain gets further away from Europe every day. The Conservative party chews at the bonds between us and our continent like a monster trying to get free. And this blinkered nationalism has an unexpected ally: the art world.
Art museums and their curators have a liberal image, an enlightened aura, but in its way the art establishment is as narrowly obsessed with British uniqueness as any rightwing Eurosceptic.
If you need proof, let's visit Yorkshire, where the Hepworth in Wakefield and the nearby Yorkshire Sculpture Park does an excellent job of celebrating two famous local artists, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. But Yorkshire is not satisfied with the respect it gets for displaying these artists well. It wants to claim an extraordinary title: "sculpture capital of Europe".
I nearly choked on my espresso. Va fa Napoli! Or Rome, or Florence, or Athens.
I know the EU has its troubles at the moment, but that doesn't give British art promoters the right to deny thousands of years of cultural history. The Cycladic islands have a better claim than Yorkshire to be Europe's sculpture capital – it was here during the late stone age that islanders carved abstract figures that were the first really graceful human images in art.
But yet Yorkshire is seriously claiming to be more of a "sculpture capital" than Rome, where Bernini's angels and Michelangelo's Moses compete with the colossus of Constantine. And Rome has rivals. Florence is a city of compelling statues where Donatello's St George shares the honours with … oh yes, Michelangelo's David.
Or what about Paris? Here you can see Michelangelo's Dying Slave, visit the Musée Rodin, and be amazed by Picasso's bull head made with bicycle parts in the Musée Picasso.
Britain is a bit player in the story of European sculpture. This is because we had a Reformation in the 16th century, when Protestants vandalised carvings and statues in churches. After that, it was Catholic countries – above all Italy with its big-spending popes – that produced sculptural geniuses such as Canova.
Europe is a living museum of sculpture. In this living museum, Britain is the gift shop, at best, and Yorkshire is a souvenir teapot hidden behind all the reproductions of David.
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