Behind the times : the decline and fall of the twentieth-century avant-gardes /
"That there is a problem about modern art few would deny. Does it, as the art of the past always did, 'express the times', or is it a series of wilful aberrations? Do we have any way of judging its success or failure?" "Bypassing art/criticism and art/theory, Britain's...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Thames and Hudson,
1999.
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| Series: | Walter Neurath memorial lectures ;
30th. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "That there is a problem about modern art few would deny. Does it, as the art of the past always did, 'express the times', or is it a series of wilful aberrations? Do we have any way of judging its success or failure?" "Bypassing art/criticism and art/theory, Britain's social historian approaches the question from a new angle altogether. It is Professor Hobsbawm's thesis that, unlike writers and composers, who have come to terms with mass/production and the technology of infinite repetition, painters still cling to the unique art/object, the product of the artist's own hands. The result has been a succession of increasingly desperate 'avant/gardes', attempts to find relevance and meaning that - irrespective of the individual artist's talent or even genius - are doomed to failure. Not everyone will accept this analysis, but it is a major contribution to a dilemma of our time, and one which both artists and critics cannot afford to ignore."--Jacket. |
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| Physical Description: | 48 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (page 45). |
| ISBN: | 050055031X 9780500550311 |