The Books That Shaped Art History reassesses the impact of
some of the most important texts of art history published during
the twentieth century. Each of the sixteen incisive chapters
focuses on a single title and is written by a leading art
historian, curator or one of the promising scholars of todays
generation. In bringing these cross-generational contributions
together, this book provides a varied and invaluable overview of
the history of art, told through its seminal texts. The sixteen
books include Nikolaus Pevsners gospel of Modernism, Pioneers of
the Modern Movement, Alfred Barrs now legendary monograph on
Matisse, E.H. Gombrichs Art and Illusion, Clement Greenbergs Art
and Culture, which had a seismic impact when it was published in
1961 and Rosalind Krausss The Originality of the Avant-Garde and
Other Modernist Myths, which introduced structuralist and
post-structuralist philosophy into art historical study. Initiated
by and and prepared under the auspices of The Burlington Magazine,
each chapter - with writers including John Elderfield, Richard
Verdi and Susie Nash - analyses a single major book, mapping the
intellectual development of its author, setting out the premises
and argument of the book, discussing its position within the field
of art history, and looking at its significance in the context both
of its initial reception and its legacy. An introduction by
John-Paul Stonard explores how art history has been forged by these
outstanding contributions to scholarship, as well as by the
dialogues and ruptures between them. The book is supplemented by
contextual essays summarising the achievements of each art
historian and offering a detailed publication history of their
texts, with suggestions for further reading. Enlivening debates and
questioning the very status of art history itself, The Books That
Shaped Art History is a concise and brilliant overview of the
discipline and an invaluable resource for students, teachers,
bibliophiles and all those interested in visual culture and its
histories.
關於作者:
Richard Shone has been Editor of the Burlington Magazine since
2003 and is the author of several books on nineteenth- and
twentieth-century art.
John-Paul Stonard, until recently a Senior Fellow at the Center
for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of
Art, Washington, is an independent art historian.