- Hardcover: 208 pages
- Publisher: Allen Lane; illustrated edition edition (28 Sep 2000)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0713994053
- ISBN-13: 978-0713994056
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 15 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,168,361 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
John Armstrong's The Intimate Philosophy of Art is much less a philosophy or a critique of particular artworks or a retread through the now familiar course of art history than an invitation to look. Armstrong's argument has a wonderfully egalitarian underpinning--it is not book learning, he argues, that is going to help us get the most out of a particular art work (although contextualising art may add something to our appreciation of it) but rather cultivating the (difficult) skill of looking. What constitutes this skill? Reverie, contemplation (classically broken down into five parts: animadversion, noticing details; concursus, seeing relationships between parts; hololepsis, seizing the whole as the whole; the lingering caress; catalepsis, mutal absorption) and investment. This is somewhat akin to the process of falling in love. And if we are to love, and so get the most out of, particular works of art this process of properly looking is what should concern us. If we really look, and spend the time to look that huge galleries packed full of more and more works so hinders, and speeding past wonderful buildings forbids, then art will respond to our gaze and will reveal what it has revealed to the likes of Ruskin, Goethe and Proust. Armstrong writes clearly and cleverly about art, architecture and philosophy. He gives a particularly good, not to say pithy, account of Kant, Schiller and Hegel's aesthetics. The book itself is abundantly illustrated with some 37 excellent reproductions to encourage the skills that Armstrong describes throughout his essay. This is a really superb book and one all art lovers should add to their shelves. --Mark Thwaite
Product Description
How many of us have stopped before a famous painting or building only to realise, with quiet disappointment, that we can't quite see what the fuss is about? What do we have to do - beyond just staring - to get the most out of art? How do we come to develop an attachment to individual works and find them deeply fascinating? How do they come to matter to us? While many have diligently directed attention to questions in art history, theory or criticism, the author, in a powerful and original shift of focus, considers the roots of our personal engagement with art. perhaps this is both the most important and most neglected aspect of thinking about art. There is no access to art except in private - in looking, thinking and feeling in the presence of an individual work. In this book, the author describes the resources we each need to cultivate in order to enjoy painting and architecture; resources such as reverie, attention and the investment of emotion. Moving easily between the intimacies of personal experiences and lucid, accessible philosophical reflection, the author acts as a sensitive and persuasive guide.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
John Armstrong's book is a wittily written essay about our personal enjoyment of the arts, in particular of paintings and architecture. Being generally easy to read, the book not only makes you laugh occasionally, but sometimes requires an all-round humanistic art education to grasp the points ("contextual knowledge" of the world of painting and literature). The book is a small piece of esthetical art in itself, pursuing to extend the philosophy of our unconscious mind to appreciate beautiful art. Armstrong's book carefully analyses what exactly makes art enjoyable and after you have read the book you will find that your personal enjoyment of art has been enhanced. All in all, a refreshing and intellectually stimulating piece of work. The book enables all those readers who are busily pursuing a hectic lifestyle to take a step back and start thinking about what rearly makes life enjoyable.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I agree with the other (5 star reviews) if only the text is to be considered. The illustrations in the paperback version are unusable, being poorly contrasted and in black and white. Since frequent reference is made to these illustrations, the whole book is debased. I should have bought the hardback and probably will in the future.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
