The Bottom Line
- words 'from the horse's mouth'
- fairly old so available cheaply secondhand
- learn about the thoughts behind the images
- find ideas and inspiration
- no Australian artists
- the layout can make it difficult to attribute the text correctly
Description
- University of California Press (Reprinted 1984)
- 680 Pages, Paperback.
- ISBN-10: 0520052560 - ISBN-13: 978-0520052567
- Black-and-White illustrations scattered through the text, with portraits, some key artworks and documents.
- for maximum enjoyment, read with a good pictorial survey of Modern art or your favorite searchengine close to hand!
Guide Review - Theories of Modern Art
'The Masters never distinguished between reality, as an element in art at least, and the interpretation of reality. Their drawings and their studies from nature have just as much style as their paintings. The word ideal is misleading; it dates from an era of materialistic art. One does not stylize artificially, after the event, a stupid copy of nature. "Do what you like, so long as it is intelligent," Gauguin said. Even when he imitates, the genuine artist is a poet.' - Maurice Denis
'The reduction of a head in movement to a bare line seemed to me defensible' - Marcel Duchamp
'Those who have frequented the atelier of Bourgereau have received no instruction the equal of that when one day the master proclaimed: " Drawing, it is the connective tissue.' - Maurice Denis (said with irony)
'Imagine arabesques or various types of linear involutions unwinding themselves not on a flat surface but in space, with all that which the deep and indeterminate limits of th sky can offer the spirit; imagine the play of their lines projecting upon and combining with the most diverse elements imaginable, including that of the human face...' - Olidon Redon
'A work of art is a world in itself reflecting senses and emotions of the artist's world.' - Hans Hofmann
'A work of art goes through many phases of development, but in each phase it is always a work of art. (Therein lies the importance of sketches.) A work of art is finished, from the point of view of the artist, when feeling and perception have resulted in a spiritual synthesis. - Hans Hofmann
