Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History - Softcover

Eisenman, Stephen F.; Crow, Thomas E.; Lukacher, Brian; Nochlin, Linda; Phillips, David Llewellyn; Pohl, Frances K.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0500283354 ISBN 13: 9780500283356

Publisher: Thames & Hudson, 2002

Synopsis

In art as in music, literature, philosophy, and political economy, the nineteenth century was a period of questioning, experimentation, discovery, and modernization. From Goya to Blake, from David to Delacroix, from Courbet to Cezanne, artists explored the links between perception and history, and in so doing challenged the prevailing definitions of art and the existing order of society. First published in 1994, this innovative and ground-breaking survey details the development of a critical perspective in nineteenth-century painting and sculpture. For the revised edition, a new introduction by Stephen Eisenman provides a cogent overview of the century, its issues, and its art. Three completely new chapters have been added, which discuss photography and its crucial role in nineteenth-century art; American and German landscape painting and its effect on the growth of romantic nationalism in each country; and Toulouse-Lautrec, whose popular appeal consists both in his work's novel technique and medium and in its exotic sexual perspectives. Nineteenth Century Art embraces many aspects of the "new" art historyattention to issues of class and gender, racism, and Eurocentrismbut it also emphasizes the remarkable vitality and subversiveness of the era's best art. Indeed, nineteenth-century artists addressed many of the aesthetic, political, and moral issues that preoccupy audiences and historians today, such as the relationship between popular and elite culture, and the representation of women and non-European peoples in Western art. This rich and diverse volume demonstrates that nineteenth-century art remains compelling today because its critical insights have rarely been surpassed. It will prove of interest not only to the specialist, but to anyone fascinated by the art, history, and culture of the era. 428 illustrations, 63 in color.

About this title

About the Author

Frances K. Pohl is Professor of Art History at Pomona College, California.

From Library Journal

The political, industrial, and cultural revolutions that punctuated the 19th century were reflected in the fine arts, though not always consciously. Art was no longer the sole domain of the upper classes, and the complexity of the new social order became evident in the works of artists like Blake and Goya early in the century and Cassatt and Eakins later on. In this first comprehensive reconsideration of 19th-century art from the viewpoint of the "new" art history, Eisenman and four other art historians examine issues of class, gender, racism, and Eurocentrism as they pertain to North American and European art. This handsomely produced volume, rich in ideas and illustrations, complements the works of Albert Boime (e.g., The Art of Exclusion: Representing Blacks in the Nineteenth Century, Smithsonian, 1990). Of interest to scholars and art enthusiasts alike.
Daniel J. Lombardo, Jones Lib., Amherst, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thames & Hudson
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0500283354
• ISBN 13: 9780500283356
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 428