New borderlines for art history

European Art History steadfastly continues to classify artistic production according to national schools. This system of categorization inevitably leads to defining the national character of a people through its art. This is not to deny that regional differences are important in European art history. However, for the most part, regional differences have little to do with nations as such – if only because these nations were usually created long after the work of art in question, which is being used to assert national characteristics. Far more serious, however, is the fact that by assessing national divergences, the similarities between works of art from different regions of Europe fall into second place. During the past few years, Dutch art historians have become increasingly aware of the importance of the European dimension when studying the art of the Low Countries. But this new research will only produce important results when it goes hand in hand with a fundamental reconsideration of art history and nationalism.