Daniel Dominique Arasse (5 November 1944 in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

– 14 December 2003 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

who specialised in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Italian art Since ancient times, the Italian peninsula has been home to diverse civilizations: the Greeks in the south, the Etruscans in the centre, and the Celts in the north. The numerous Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date back as far as 8,000 BC. Rich a ...

. He was the son of

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, Henriette Arasse. His publication, ''Le Détail, Pour une histoire rapprochée de la peinture'' (1992) won the

Charles-Blanc Prize The Charles-Blanc Prize ( French: ) was an annual award of the Académie Française for the author(s) of works in the fields of History and Sociology. The prize was awarded from 1898 to 1994, and was named after French art critic and historian, ...

in 1993. Another book ''La Guillotine et L'imaginaire de la Terreur'' (1987), was translated into English as ''The Guillotine and the Terror'' (1989).

Biography

Daniel Arasse, born on November 5, 1944 in Algiers (Algeria),. is the son of Raymond and Henriette Arasse. Daniel Arasse passed the

École normale supérieure (Paris) The – PSL (; also known as ENS, , Ulm or ENS Paris) is a ''grande école'' in Paris, France. It is one of the constituent members of Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL). Due to its selectivity, historical role, and influence within F ...

in 1965,Site Internet de l’Association des anciens élèves, élèves et amis de l’ENS
then the agrégation de lettres classiques, and began a thesis at the

Sorbonne (building) The name Sorbonne (French: ''La Sorbonne''; , ; ) is commonly used to refer to the historic University of Paris in Paris, France or one of its successor institutions (see below). It is also the name of a building in the Latin Quarter of Paris ...

with

André Chastel André Chastel (15 November 1912, Paris – 18 July 1990, Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French art historian, author of an important work on the Italian Renaissance. He was a professor at the Collège de France, where he held the chair of art and civil ...

on Italian

Renaissance art Renaissance art (1350 – 1620) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occurr ...

, focusing on

Bernardino of Siena Bernardino of Siena, Order of Friars Minor, OFM (Bernardine or Bernadine; 8 September 138020 May 1444), was an Catholic Church in Italy, Italian Catholic priest and Franciscan missionary preacher in Italy. He was a systematizer of Scholasticism, ...

. Following an incident in Florence in July 1976, recounted in Histoires de peintures (“The Stolen Thesis”), he changed director and subject, working under Louis Marin (philosopher) at the

School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (, EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The school awards Master and PhD degrees alone and conjo ...

(EHESS). From 1969 to 1993, Daniel Arasse taught the history of modern art, from the 15th to the 19th century, at the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

(for two years) and then at the

Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University (), also known as Paris 1 (or Paris I) and Panthéon-Sorbonne University (or, together with Sorbonne University and Sorbonne Nouvelle University, simply as the Sorbonne), is a Public university, public rese ...

. From 1971 to 1973, he was a member of the

École française de Rome The École française de Rome (EFR) is a French research institute for history, archaeology, and the social sciences; overseen by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, and a division of the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et ...

, which he left because of differences with director Georges Vallet. From 1982 to 1989, he directed the

Institut français de Florence The Institut français de Florence or French Institute in Florence is an Institut français in Florence, Italy. It is a French public institution attached to the French Foreign Ministry. The promotion of French culture and French language, langu ...

, where he created the France Cinéma festival.Antoine de Baecque,Hervé Gauville et Élisabeth Lebovici
« Arasse en détail »
''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'', 22 décembre 2003. From 1993, he was director of studies at EHESS, where he was elected on the basis of merit, even though he had never defended his thesis.

References

1944 births 2003 deaths French art historians {{France-historian-stub