THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE. An Anthropologist Looks at the Visual Arts

Maquet, Jacques

ISBN 10: 0300033427 / ISBN 13: 9780300033427

Published by Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, 1986

About this Item

This provocative book deals with the topic of art and the human experience from an anthropologist's point of view. Analyzing the way we observe various examples of sculpture, architecture, painting, and crafted articles from many cultural traditions, Jacques Maquet demonstrates that our specific experience is essential to what is socially recognized as art. Included are photographs, illustrations, endnotes, an appendix, a bibliography, an analytical table of contents, a proper names index, and a topical index. This copy is clean, solid, and SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, inscribed on the title page. The former owner's name is on the front pastedown. Seller Inventory # 004644

Bibliographic Details

Title: THE AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE. An Anthropologist ...

Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven, CT

Publication Date: 1986

Binding: Cloth

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Examines how we experience art, discusses the symbolic and cultural aspects of aesthetic objects, and considers the effect of art from other cultures

Reviews:

This reflective, insightful account deals with cross-cultural aesthetic perceptions. Drawing on a wealth of illustrations from Western and non-Western traditions, Maquet analzyes the message and meaning of the visual arts. He concludes that, though the aesthetic experience transcends ethnic boundaries through metamorphoses not dissimilar to meditation, analysis of the cultural context (i.e., anthropology) is the most promising heuristic mechanism for understanding the aesthetic dimension. The intricate connections between the cultural level and the universal and singular levels cannot be ignored, thus "careful observations of our inner life should not be banished from the anthropological realm." An exceptionally thought-provoking, accessible analysis. Winifred Lambrecht, Anthropology Dept., Brown Univ . , Providence,
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.