Art and Revolution - Softcover

Berger, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0394415620 ISBN 13: 9780394415628

Publisher: Pantheon, 1969

Synopsis

In this prescient and beautifully written book, John Berger examines the life and work of Ernst Neizvestny, a Russian sculptor whose exclusion from the ranks of officially approved Soviet artists left him laboring in enforced obscurity to realize his monumental and very public vision of art. But Berger's impassioned account goes well beyond the specific dilemma of the pre-glasnot Russian artist to illuminate the very meaning of revolutionary art. In his struggle against official orthodoxy--which involved a face-to-face confrontation with Khruschev himself--Neizvestny was fighting not for a merely personal or aesthetic vision, but for a recognition of the true social role of art. His sculptures earn a place in the world by reflecting the courage of a whole people, by commemorating, in an age of mass suffering, the resistance and endurance of millions.



"Berger is probably our most perceptive commentator on art...A civilized and stimulating companion no matter what subject happens to cross his mind."--Philadelphia Inquirer

About this title

From the Inside Flap

In this prescient and beautifully written book, John Berger examines the life and work of Ernst Neizvestny, a Russian sculptor whose exclusion from the ranks of officially approved Soviet artists left him laboring in enforced obscurity to realize his monumental and very public vision of art. But Berger's impassioned account goes well beyond the specific dilemma of the pre-glasnot Russian artist to illuminate the very meaning of revolutionary art. In his struggle against official orthodoxy--which involved a face-to-face confrontation with Khruschev himself--Neizvestny was fighting not for a merely personal or aesthetic vision, but for a recognition of the true social role of art. His sculptures earn a place in the world by reflecting the courage of a whole people, by commemorating, in an age of mass suffering, the resistance and endurance of millions.

"Berger is probably our most perceptive commentator on art...A civilized and stimulating companion no matter what subject happens to cross his mind."--Philadelphia Inquirer

Edition details

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1969
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394415620
• ISBN 13: 9780394415628
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192