[en] For most of the 20th century, the ancient Laocoon sculpture has receded from public attention its status as a major work of art diminished by indifference. Increasingly a source of contentious argument among art historians, the Laocoon sculpture floats above the shifting boundary between " Greek original " and " Roman copy ", reflecting both the lack of agreed standards of historical judgment and the valorization of artistic " originality " since the 19th century. Beginning in the 16th century the sculpture had a companion, a shadowy other, or Doppelgänger, not nearly so substantial as itself but, perhaps, even more powerful as an alternative subject.Upon the rediscovery of the marble sculpture in 1506, Michelangelo and his contemporaries were drawn to admire the formal properties of Laocoon's body and, also, to respond to the atmosphere of pathos, perceived in the enacted situation, known to them from Classical myth. These formal elements influenced the making of new vigorous art, but this development must be distinguished from the sculpture's affect, because it was the latter, functioning as a powerful visual sign that elicited an emotional response from the viewer and collapsed his vicarious experience into the work itself. Winckelmann's attempt to bring these two reactions together was effectively blocked by the publication of Lessing's own Laocoon which argued for the dependence of the visual image on a precedental text or story, and further gave priority to language, as if the paragone between text and image would always be decided in favor of language, especially poetic language and its power to expand the audience's consciousness. This denigration of the Laocoon statue was mitigated, at least in part, by the prevalence of its graphic image in high art as well as in cartoons. In this way, the statue's imagery persisted as a topical motif, signifying pain, or terror, and disquieting fantasy, thus readily adopted by Surrealists, such as Max Ernst, as a metaphor for mankind caught in the serpentine coils of powers beyond his control.It was the 20th century movement toward non-objective, abstract art that led the influential modern art critic, Clement Greenberg, to reinterpret Lessing's treatise with respect to the vast, open possibilities of representation without figuration that would refer to anything but itself. One might imagine that the ancient Laocoon sculpture would have been victimized by this shift toward abstraction in modern painting and sculpture, but only if one considers the representational capacity of the sculpture as a whole, and ignores the role of the encircling serpents. They are, indeed, fearsome as supernatural powers, but they also constitute a constructive pathway for the viewer's eye, leading one through and around the complex sculpture. Thus, the serpentine line serves as an instrument of composition, providing an entrance and passageway for the journey of the eye through the labyrinth of such abstract, pictorial forms that occupy the multiple, interlocking surfaces and elements in the work of the modern American artist, Jackson Pollock. In this respect the serpentine line may be considered only a vestigial survivor of the Laocoon sculpture, but once conscious of its effect that line becomes metonymous for what is otherwise absent.

[fr] Au xxe siècle, le groupe antique du Laocoon a le plus souvent perdu son statut d'œuvre d'art de premier plan, tombant dans l'indifférence. Pour les spécialistes d'histoire de l'art, le Laocoon a une position indéfinie entre " original grec " et " copie romaine ", ce qui révèle la valorisation de l' " originalité " artistique depuis le xixe siècle. A partir du xvie siècle, le groupe a comme un double qui peut même se substituer à lui.Dès la découverte du marbre en 1506, Michel-Ange et ses contemporains ont été enclins à admirer les propriétés formelles du corps de Laocoon, qui répondait au pathos tel qu'il était connu par les mythes classiques. Ces éléments formels ont fécondé un art nouveau, qu'il faut distinguer de l'influence de la sculpture sur ses spectateurs. Winckelmann tenta de faire coïncider ces deux aspects, mais cette tentative échoua à cause du Laocoon de Lessing, qui milite en faveur de la dépendance de l'image visuelle par rapport au texte, prioritaire, en particulier pour la poésie. Cette dévalorisation de l'image de Laocoon fut atténuée par l'importance de son image dans le grand art aussi bien que dans les caricatures. L'imagerie de la statue exprima la souffrance, la terreur et un fantastique troublant, ce qui amena des surréalistes comme Max Ernst à en faire la métaphore de forces hors de tout contrôle.Dans le mouvement qui conduit à l'art abstrait du xxe siècle, le critique Clement Greenberg réinterpréta le traité de Lessing en ouvrant la voie à des représentations autoréférentielles. La sculpture n'a pas été oblitérée si l'on considère le rôle des serpents. Ils représentent des forces supranaturelles qui guident l'œil du spectateur autour de la sculpture. La ligne serpentine est un chemin structurel de la sculpture. On trouve un effet analogue dans l'œuvre de l'artiste américain Jackson Pollock. A cet égard, la ligne serpentine est une survivance de la sculpture du Laocoon, une métonymie de l'absence.