Does Contemporary Art Need a New Masaccio?

Daniele Torcellini applies art historian Giovanni Previtali's 14th-century model of artistic innovation and stagnation to the last 150 years of art, questioning whether the current pandemic will lead to a period of reduced dynamism. Previtali argued that the early Trecento (1290-1320) was a revolutionary peak, followed by stagnation after the 1348 plague, until Masaccio revived Giotto's legacy in the early 1400s. Torcellini asks if Marcel Duchamp can be seen as a 20th-century Giotto, and whether artists like Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni, Maurizio Cattelan, Damien Hirst, or Sol LeWitt represent later figures. He notes that the pattern of innovation-stagnation may be repeating, with contemporary art showing signs of mechanical repetition and pseudo-ruptures. The pandemic could further reduce social dynamism, delaying a new Masaccio. Torcellini suggests a positive outlook: artists' experimental attitude, even with limited resources, may be key. The article references Previtali's 1979 essay, Perniola's "L'arte espansa", and Lotman's semiotics.