eShop USA > Books > Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
List Price: $45.00Our Price: $29.70 You Save: $15.30 (34%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 709.04052
EAN: 9780691126784
ISBN: 069112678X
Label: Princeton University Press
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: October 09, 2006
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Studio: Princeton University Press
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:"What is abstract art good for? What's the use--for us as individuals, or for any society--of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves?" In this invigorating account of abstract art since Jackson Pollock, eminent art historian Kirk Varnedoe, the former chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, asks these and other questions as he frankly confronts the uncertainties we may have about the nonrepresentational art produced in the last five decades. He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. H. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusion, another landmark A. W. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and as the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring of 2003, just months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction--showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour through a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Highly Recommended
Pictures of Nothing is an important addition to my library. Currently completing my MFA, the lectures in this book have been both challenging and enlightening, broadening my understanding of contemporary abstract art. It is both a "cover to cover" read and a reference dipper. Written in an informed, passionate and sometimes humurous style Varnedoe's lectures are a joy to read. Well illustrated with wide-ranging coverage of art and artists within the field I can give this book 4 1/2 stars and a high ... Read More
Rating:  - Great subject, disappointing book.
As an abstract painter myself, I am extremely interested and infatuated with the subject of abstract art. All art, really, but abstract art, especially. I frequently comb the shelves of the local used book store to purchase books about art and artists. I typically buy books that biographically deal with the life and work of a single artist, but am also attracted to books that speak of art and the art world in general. This particular book was obtained online, so I did not have an opportunity to scan ... Read More
Rating: - Pictures of Nothing
This is a very good collection of lectures given about abstract art. It gives some valuable clues as to the genealogy of modern art.
Rating: - overrated and wordy
a disappointing book - pretentious and unenlightening - get hilton kramer's "the trium of modernism" instead!
Rating: - They really need a Zero Star category for books like this one
I watched the excellent series on art on DVD called "Power of Art" by Simon Schama. The last episode of the series is on Mark Rothko, an abstract painter. It made me want to learn more about abstract art, so I bought this book. Annnt! Thanks for playing. This book is a dog. It didnt help me understand abstract art one bit . In fact, it goes on and on about pieces of "art," but does not explain them beyond being smears or smudges or works of technique. The basis of abstract art is not explained ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
