I've tried searching for examples, but the examples I've found up until now have either had to do with the world of art (e.g. the impact of Monet's works on the world of painting) or had to do with our modern understanding of ancient civilizations (e.g. discovery of King Tut's tomb showed the extent of Egyptian craft and religion). There are also a few cases where the creation/gifting/stealing of art has been of historical significance (e.g. state-sponsored art that way way over budget, the gifting of the Statue of Liberty to the United States, art getting plundered in war, etc.). We've heard about the book Silent Spring's role in banning DDT and other environmentally-damaging pesticides, music of the 60's role in the pro-peace/anti-war movement, Henry L. Stimson's appreciation for Kyoto's leading to the second a-bomb's dropping on Nagasaki instead, and I'd even mention the controversy over whether violent movies/video games/etc. contributed to any instance of mass shooting. Yet, I can't recall a single story about a drawing, painting, sculpture's leading to a major world event or causing a shift in general society. This tragically implies that fine art, while perhaps still an important part of the human psyche that results in subtle shifts and changes, has no instant, direct, or practical impact on the world!
Someone please give me an example that refutes this assumption! I would love to hear from non-art historians too; tell me about a time a military general saw Guernica and became a pacifist, or when some ancient invading force was so intimidated by a city wall mosaic they turned and fled, or even a sociology study showing that erecting murals in bad neighborhoods lowers crime rates? What I ultimately want to know is, does fine art have the potential to change the world in the same way that other arts like literature, film, and music seem to?
Well off the top of my head, there's a very famous poem written by Cao Zhi, son of Cao Cao, famous commander and emperor of the Wei Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms Era in China.
Cao Pi, who was Cao Zhi's older brother, had become the emperor of the kingdom but he was troubled by Cao Zhi. Cao Zhi was a famous poet and intellectual who had a strong grasp of the arts in their various forms.
Cao Zhi was most famous for a talent at writing striking imagery in his poems with very few words and evoking strong emotions when reciting the classics orally from memory alone. His poetry was respected and his voice admired.
But Cao Zhi did not aspire to become a poet, nor did he wish to live out his days in academia. He wanted to command and lead, to take to a political office.
Cao Pi was suspicious of his younger brother's intentions, thinking that he meant to turn the court's opinion toward him and take the throne for himself. After his suspicions reach a critical point, Cao Pi summons Cao Zhi to the court and demands that Cao Zhi use his renown poetry skills to produce a poem immediately to convince Cao Pi that he was not planning on committing treason.
In more dramatic recountings, it is said that Cao Pi further demanded that Cao Zhi not use the word 'brother' in his poem.
Cao Zhi goes on to write a famous poem about beans that sprung from the same root that are then boiled for soup, symbolizing their brotherhood and posing the question why they must hurt one another like this.
According to accounts, Cao Pi is moved to tears and does not execute nor exile Cao Zhi.
Another example, though not from Asia, is The Death of Marat by Jacques-Louis David. It is one of the most famous politically direct pieces of art in the Western world. It definitely had a strong influence on the tumultuous time of the French Revolution.
If I can think of anymore later I'll update my post!
I'm thinking of the Byzantine Iconoclasm, a discussion about the way the religious art should be that had an important impact in the history of the Byzantine Empire in the VIII and IX centuries.
Pablo Picasso's "Guernica" was an abstract painting about the first-ever bombing of a town by Nazi Germany. It was used as a form of protest and was adopted by the government which controlled that town. Mostly, I'd say it's artistic works of literature that had the most effect on politics. Look up banned books, most were banned because they were influential
