The Eloquence of Color Rhetoric And Painting In The French Classical Age

Lichtenstein, Jacqueline (translated By McVarish, Emily)

ISBN 10: 0520069072 / ISBN 13: 9780520069077

Published by University of California Press, 1993

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 53934

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Eloquence of Color Rhetoric And Painting In The French Classical Age
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0520069072
• ISBN 13: 9780520069077
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In this richly suggestive contribution to the theory of art, Jacqueline Lichtenstein discusses the importance of color in reconciling ancient differences between rhetoric and painting. The visible world had been suspect since Plato accused the Sophists of relying on rhetorical show, of being in effect makeup artists. Before the 17th century, these differences were manifest in a valorization of design over color.

But in the 17th century, the image suddenly becomes an essential agent of thought. Rhetorical color is revalued along with color in painting, with cosmetics, and with all that belonged to the feminine, as a sensual force necessary to reconcile reason and pleasure, action and passion. Lichtenstein thus identifies a major shift in European theories of meaning, of gender, and of the relationship between the word and the image.

About the Author

Jacqueline Lichtenstein is Associate Professor of French at the University of California, Berkeley.