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The Use and Abuse of Art
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Jacques Barzun
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
1975
About this book
From the celebrated cultural historian and bestselling author, a provocative history of the evolution of our ideas about art since the early nineteenth century
In this witty, provocative, and learned book, acclaimed cultural historian and writer Jacques Barzun traces our changing attitudes to the arts over the past 150 years, suggesting that we are living in a period of cultural liquidation, nothing less than the ending of the modern age that began with the Renaissance. He challenges our conceptions and misconceptions about art “in order to reach a conclusion about its value and its drawbacks for life at the present time.”
Author / Editor information
Jacques Barzun (1907–2012) was professor of history at Columbia University and the author of many books, including the bestselling From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life, 1500 to the Present; Simple and Direct; The Energies of Art; and The House of Intellect.
Reviews
"When an extremely intellectual, extremely experienced, extremely wise man shares his thoughts with others, the result seizes the imagination at once. Such is the effect of these essays. . . . Barzun examines art as religion, as destroyer, as redeemer, and in relation to what he calls ‘its tempter, science,’ but never forgets the basic essential. As he says, ‘the last word on art should indeed be: mystery. But that need not stop any of us from dealing with it as if we understood more than we can.’ And how good it is to have one’s mind stretched to that understanding of ‘more.’"
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Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
July 21, 2020
eBook ISBN:
9780691216331
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
160
eBook ISBN:
9780691216331
Keywords for this book
Work of art; Contemporary art; Cubism; Literature; Surrealism; Anti-art; Technology; Art for art's sake; Philosophy; Romanticism; Figurative art; Bourgeoisie; Aesthetics; T. S. Eliot; Fine art; Ezra Pound; Art criticism; Poetry; Thought; Spirituality; Scientist; Idiot; Criticism; Boredom; Theory of art; Skepticism; Sophistication; Ambiguity; Primitivism; Post-Impressionism; Academic art; Dada; Idolatry; Lecture; Disgust; Marcel Duchamp; Minimalism; Allusion; Sensibility; Ideology; Suggestion; Roger Fry; Anecdote; Epithet; Allegory; Modern architecture; Vorticism; Romain Rolland; Op art; Symbolism (arts); Erotic art; Phidias; Elegance; Rhetoric; Abstract expressionism; Action painting; Diego Rivera; The Story of Art; Aphorism; Impressionism; General knowledge; Goncourt brothers; Walter Pater; Scientism; Disenchantment; Prose; Ernest Hemingway; The Philosopher; Social science; Lytton Strachey
Audience(s) for this book
General/trade;
