Theories of Art: 3. From Impressionism to Kandinsky

by Moshe Barasch

Overview

In this volume, the third in his classic series on art theory, Moshe Barasch traces the hidden patterns and interlocking themes in the study of art, from impressionism to abstract art. Barasch details the immense social changes in the creation, presentation, and reception of art which have set the history of art theory on a vertiginous new course: the decreased relevance of workshops and art schools; the replacement of the treatise by the critical review; and the emerging interrelationship between scientific inquiry and artistic theory. The consequent changes in the ways in which critics as well as artists conceptualized paintings and sculptures were radical, marked by an obsession with intense sensory experiences, psychological reflection on the effects of art, and an attraction to the exotic and alien—making for the most exciting and fertile period in the history of art criticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415926270
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	11/10/2000
Series:	Theories of Art Series
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Moshe Barasch is Jack Cotton Professor of Architecture and Fine Arts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and author of numerous books on art, including The Language of Art: Studies in Interpretation (1997) and Icon: Studies in the History of an Idea (1995).

Table of Contents

Preface; Introduction; I. Impressionism; 1. Introduction: The Crisis of Realism; 2. Aesthetic Culture in the Literature of the Time; 3. Impressionism and the PHilosophical Culture of the Time; 4. Science and Painting; 5. Impressionism: Reflections on Style; 6. The Fragment as Art Form; II. Empathy; 7. Introduction: An Empathy Tradition in the Theory of Art; 8. Gustav Fechner; 9. Charles Darwin: The Science of Expression; 10. Robert Vischer; 11. Empathy: Toward a Definition; 12. Wilhelm Dilthey; 13. Conrad Fiedler; 14. Adolf Hildebrand; 15. Alois Riegl; 16. Wilhelm Worringer: Abstraction and Empathy; III. Discovering the Primitive; 17. Introduction: Conditions of Modern Primitivism; 18. The Beginnings of Scholarly Study: Gottfried Semper; 19. Discovering Prehistoric Art; 20. Understanding Distant Cultures: The Case of Egypt; 21. Gauguin; 22. African Art; IV. Abstract Art; 23. Abstract Art: Origins and Sources; 24. The Subject Matter of Abstract Painting; 25. Color; 26. Line; 27. Composition and Harmony; Bibliographical Essay; Name Index; Subject Index