Art Theory
An Historical Introduction
2. Edition February 2009
344 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ART THEORY
ART THEORY
"[Art Theory] is a first-class introduction to the subject, revealing an unusual historical range, a command of diverse and often difficult ideas, and a natural flair for seeing the point - of art and of theory... Robert Williams has written a book I will keep on my shelf for rereading and I look forward to further works by him."
John Haldane in The Art Book
Art Theory, Second Edition is a unique survey of Western thought about art from ancient times to today. This lucid and lively narrative, geared to the needs of the general reader and beginning students, consists of six chapters covering the major periods of Western art history: Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the early modern period (Renaissance and Baroque), the Enlightenment, the nineteenth century, early twentieth-century modernism, and postmodernism. This new edition expands the original to include more in-depth coverage of contemporary art.
Wide-ranging and exceptionally balanced in its analysis, Art Theory relates theory to the practice as well as to the intellectual and cultural-historical currents of each period. This new edition is an indispensable read for students and art lovers alike.
List of Figures viii
Introduction 1
1 Antiquity and the Middle Ages 7
The Shield of Achilles 7
Imitation and Knowledge 18
Beauty 26
Rhetoric 35
Word and World 43
2 The Early Modern Period 55
Craftsmen and Theorists 55
Humanism 66
The Academic System 79
3 The Enlightenment 95
The Eighteenth Century 95
Radical Idealism 109
4 The Nineteenth Century 122
The Crisis of the Academy 122
Impressionism 135
"Absolute Art Exists at Last" 147
Ruskin and the Aesthetes 160
5 The Early Twentieth Century 176
Beyond Nature 176
Beyond Reason 192
American Modern 213
6 Postmodernism 231
The Critique of Culture 231
The Phenomenology of Signs 243
Future Present 261
Sources and Suggestions for Further Reading 279
Index 315
