Renato Barilli Challenges Art Periodization with Technological Materialism

In a polemical response to an Artribune interview with Gianfranco Maraniello, art critic Renato Barilli reasserts his theory of art periodization based on technological materialism. Barilli, professor emeritus at the University of Bologna, argues that the traditional division between modern and contemporary art—with the French Revolution (1789) as the turning point—is flawed. Instead, he proposes that the true break occurs with the scientific experiments of Luigi Galvani and Alessandro Volta around 1800, which generated the first electric currents. This technological shift, he claims, parallels the art of Fuseli, Blake, Goya, David, and Canova, whom he considers pioneers of the contemporary. Barilli further critiques Maraniello for ignoring his publications during his tenure in Bologna, and dismisses the term 'contemporary' as weak, suggesting 'postmodern' as a more accurate descriptor for the era of electronics. He also references the later impact of Pacinotti's ring (commutator) and its correspondence with Cézanne, and insists that Duchamp, Fontana, and Burri must be placed in a proper sequence of precedents.