HANS HESS: SELECTED WRITINGS VOL.3 - Art and Ideology

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“The goods have become the gods.”

Manifesto press is proud to present its latest addition to the four-volume compilation of the works of Hans Hess, art critic, historian, teacher, museologist and curator.

In ‘Art & Ideology’, Volume Three of his writings, Hans Hess explores the evolving role of art throughout history, from prehistoric cave paintings to modern abstraction. Art, he argues, has always served as both a reflection of dominant ideologies and a tool for reinforcing them - "There is not a form which does not say something.”

Early works, like those of Egypt and Greece, functioned as mythic or moral instruction, while medieval art became an instrument of Christian doctrine. The Renaissance saw art shift toward humanist ideals, and the Baroque era turned it into theatrical propaganda. By the 19th century, art became a market commodity, and in the 20th asserts Hess, “…What matters is the work of art itself, divorced from any context or aim." Hess’s incisive analysis reveals how art’s purpose—and the artist’s status—has transformed across time.

Hans Hess (1907–1975) was a Marxist art historian, museologist and curator whose work bridged theory, politics, and visual culture. A key interpreter of Grosz, Feininger, and the Bauhaus, his writings—shaped by exile, imprisonment, and a deep engagement with art communities and philosophy—critique art’s ideological role across history. ‘Art and Ideology’ revives his incisive voice, challenging both traditional and postmodern orthodoxies. Combining scholarly rigour with lived experience, Hess remains a vital, radical thinker in understanding art’s relationship to power and society.