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Art in Theory 1648-1815: An

Anthology of Changing Ideas
Charles Harrison (Editor), Paul Wood (Editor), Jason Gaiger (Editor)
ISBN: 978-0-631-20064-2
1248 pages
February 2001, 2000, Wiley-Blackwell

Description
Art in Theory (1648-1815) provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents on the theory of art
from the founding of the French Academy until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Like its highly successful companion
volumes, Art in Theory (1815-1900) and Art in Theory (1900-1990), its' primary aim is to provide students and teachers
with the documentary material for informed and up-to-date study. Its' 240 texts, clear principles of organization and
considerable editorial content offer a vivid and indispensable introduction to the art of the early modern period.
Harrison, Wood and Gaiger have collected writing by artists, critics, philosophers, literary figures and administrators
of the arts, some reprinted in their entirety, others excerpted from longer works. A wealth of material from French,
German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Latin sources is also provided, including many new translations.
Among the major themes treated are early arguments over the relative merits of ancient and modern art, debates
between the advocates of form and color, the beginnings of modern art criticism in reviews of the Salon, art and
politics during the French Revolution, the rise of landscape painting, and the artistic theories of Romanticism and
Neo-classicism.

Each section is prefaced by an essay that situates the ideas of the period in their historical context, while relating
theoretical concerns and debates to developments in the practice of art. Each individual text is also accompanied by a
short introduction. An extensive bibliography and full index are provided.
For more details of our book and journal list in Art, visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/arttheory

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements.
A Note on the Presentation and Editing of Texts.

General Introduction.
Part I: Establishing the Place of Art:.
Introduction.
Part
The Profession of Art:.
SeeII:
More
Introduction.
Part III: Judgement
and the Public Sphere:.
Author
Information
Charles
Harrison is co-editor of Art in Theory 1900 - 1990 (Blackwell, 1992) and of Art in Theory 1815 - 1900
Introduction.
(Blackwell, 1997). He is the author of English Art and Modernism 1900 - 1939 (1994), of Essays on Art & Language,
and
(1997) in the series "Movements in Modern Art". He has lectured widely in England, Europe and
Partof
IV:Modernism
A Public Discourse:.
the USA and has been visiting Professor in History of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently
Professor
of the History and Theory of Art and Staff tutor in Arts at the Open University.
Introduction.
Part V: Nature and Human Nature:.
Paul Wood is co-editor of Art in Theory 1900 - 1990 (1992) and of Art in Theory 1815 - 1900 (1998). He has
published
widely on modern art and art history in a variety of journals and exhibition catalogues. He has edited The
Introduction.
Challenge of the Avant Garde (1998) and co-edited Investigating Modern Art (1996) and has contributed to Realism,
Rationalism,
Surrealism, and Modernism in Dispute (both 1993) and to Critical Terms for Art History (1996). He is
Part
VI:
Romanticism:.
See
More
Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art History at the Open University.
Introduction.
Jason
Gaiger
isAdvantage
co-editor
Art in Theory 1915 - 1900 (1997). He has published various articles in the field of art
The
Wiley
Part VII:
Observation
andof
Tradition:.
history and aesthetics, and has been a visiting lecturer at the Universities of Essex, York and North London. He is
For
more details
ofin
our
books
andatjournal
list in
Art, visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/arttheory
currently
Lecturer
Art
History
the Open
University.
Introduction.
Bibliography.

Reviews

Copyright Acknowledgements.
"All three of these books are essential additions to any public or private library concerned with Art. For the reader
who
comes a novice to this discipline they provide a superb first entry point to an otherwise bewildering array of
Index.
publications concerned with the theory of art. Rather like a jigsaw puzzle they encourage the reader to make the
connections that will complete the picture. But more importantly, what each of these anthologies does brilliantly is to
tempt the relative novice to go further with their research. By presenting an overview of the evolution of a set of
ideas within defined parameters and over a specified period of time through the erudite selection of sensitively edited
primary texts, the reader is subtly invited to seek out the originals and flesh out their understanding. For those who
are more experienced in the field they cleverly provide a means of prompting new ideas within the reader's field of
enquiry."
--Journal of Art & Design

Related Titles

Western Art and the

Wider World
by Paul Wood

Art in Theory 1900 2000: An Anthology of

Changing Ideas, 2nd
Edition
by Charles Harrison
(Editor), Paul Wood
(Editor)

Art in Theory 18151900: An Anthology of

Changing Ideas
by Charles Harrison, Paul
Wood, Jason Gaiger

Copyright 2000-2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., or related companies. All rights reserved.

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