The Origin of Perspective

Damisch, Hubert

ISBN 10: 0262540770 / ISBN 13: 9780262540773

Published by MIT Press, 1995

About this Item

Light wear to covers. Spine not creased. Internally clean. 504pp In part a response to Panofsky's Perspective as Symbolic Form, The Origin of Perspective is much more. In France it is considered one of the most important works of art history to have appeared in the last twenty years. With the exception of Michel Foucault's analysis of Las Meninas, it is perhaps the first time a structuralist method such as the one developed by Claude Le -Strauss in The Way of the Masks has been thoroughly and convincingly applied to Western art. The task Damisch has set for himself is to refute both the positivist critics, whose approach makes up the bulk of perspective studies and is based on a complete repression of Panofsky's early work, and the current pseudo-avant-gardist position (whether in the field of cinema studies or in literary criticism), which tends to disregard facts and theoretical analysis. Damisch argues that if a theoretical analysis of perspective is possible, using all the tools of structuralist semiotics, it is only possible in the context of a close look at its appearance in history, beginning with the details of the "invention" of perspective. Size: 175mm x 250mm.

Seller Inventory # 028249

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Origin of Perspective
• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262540770
• ISBN 13: 9780262540773
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: First English Language Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Book Type: Book
• Seller catalogs:
  • Western Art - Pre 1900/Art History/Art Method

About this title

Synopsis

In part a response to Panofsky's Perspective as Symbolic Form, The Origin of Perspective is much more. In France it is considered one of the most important works of art history to have appeared in the last twenty years. With the exception of Michel Foucault's analysis of Las Meninas, it is perhaps the first time a structuralist method such as the one developed by Claude Le¶©-Strauss in The Way of the Masks has been thoroughly and convincingly applied to Western art.

The task Damisch has set for himself is to refute both the positivist critics, whose approach makes up the bulk of perspective studies and is based on a complete repression of Panofsky's early work, and the current pseudo-avant-gardist position (whether in the field of cinema studies or in literary criticism), which tends to disregard facts and theoretical analysis. Damisch argues that if a theoretical analysis of perspective is possible, using all the tools of structuralist semiotics, it is only possible in the context of a close look at its appearance in history, beginning with the details of the "invention" of perspective.

About the Author

Hubert Damisch is on the faculty of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.