Art Of The Postmodern Era: From The Late 1960s To The Early 1990s (Icon Editions) [Paperback]

Irving Sandler (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813334330 | ISBN-13: 978-0813334332 | Publication Date: August 15, 1997

The fourth and final installment in Irving Sandler’s series on contemporary art, Art of the Postmodern Era surveys the artists, works, movements, and ideas as well as the social and cultural context of this energetic and turbulent period in art.The book begins with the late 1960s, when new directions in art emerged, ranging from diverse postminimal styles to pattern and decoration painting and new image painting. In turn, the 1980s ushered in a second wave of new movements—neoexpressionism, media deconstruction, and commodity art. Sandler also discusses postmodernist art theory, the art market, and consumer society, providing an essential framework for understanding the art of this period.Unlike his previous books, Art of the Postmodern Era includes both American and European artists.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A luminary critic, Sandler (art history SUNY, Purchase) specializes in American art from Abstract Expressionism onward. His lengthy but informative new book charts the tremendous diversity of the counterculture decades, defining both the myriad art movements and the fascinating ups and downs of squabbling theoreticians. In this final volume in a series on contemporary art (e.g., The New York School, LJ 9/1/78), Sandler covers everything from specific defined movements to changes in markets. New Image Painting, Bad Art, Deconstruction Art, Commodity Art, Neo-Geo, and even so-called "pathetic art" are called on, as well as the better-known Feminist Art, Pattern Painting, and so on. This major survey is lucid, sympathetic, exhaustive, and generally objective, whether speaking of political correctness, money and fashion, or explicit sexual taboos as art. Endnotes are lengthy and important. Highly recommended.?Mary Hamel-Schwulst, Towson State Univ., Md.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Irving Sandler, professor of art history at the State University of New York at Purchase, was born in New York City and educated in Philadelphia. He is the author of a multivolume history of American art since 1945, books on Alex Katz, Al Held, Mark di Suvero, and numerous exhibition catalogs, articles, and reviews.

Product Details

• Paperback: 680 pages
• Publisher: Westview Press (August 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813334330
• ISBN-13: 978-0813334332
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6.2 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #112,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genuinely useful text., June 8, 2006

By 

S. G. Lindsay "SGL" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art Of The Postmodern Era: From The Late 1960s To The Early 1990s (Icon Editions) (Paperback)

I am considering assigning this as a textbook in my contemporary art class. The text IS accessible, and does not follow the conventional art history textbook format. Refreshing is Sandler's emphasis on art-world and other contexts. One emerges, after reading the book, feeling like one understands how the art came about in the first place, rather than simply feeling groundlessly familiar with a few key figures and their major works.

17 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You are warned..., October 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Art Of The Postmodern Era: From The Late 1960s To The Early 1990s (Hardcover)

Because I believe in upfront honesty, I will say that I am by no means an Art buff. I've taken humanities courses, art history and so forth, but soley as electives. My main interest in academia has nothing what so ever to do with art and my interest in it is only casual.

That having been said, let me say that after reading literally dozens of academic text books, reference materials, etc, including all those I used in my humanities and art history courses before, Sandlers "Art of the Postmodern Era..." wholly deserves the 1 star rating that I gave it. I say this not because the material doesn't interest me, but because Sandler makes it so terribly thick and impassable. Even if you've taken a small dose of art history before, the manner in which Sandler wrote this book will leave you're eyes bleeding.

Worst of all, Sandler follows an almost tragic formula throughout the book. Introduce the topic with relevant fact, mention an artist or work, go on obscure tangent about said artist or work, throw in a few black and white (a disservice to both reader and artist) print of the work, then move on to another artist or work. Never do you return to a concrete discussion of the theoretical underpinnings of the movements he discusses. There are passing references to how each particular work or artist is connected with the movement being discussed, but never do you get a clean cut, definitive exploration of the movement. In essence, the only way you can gain any understanding is by finding these sometimes obscure portions of the chapter and putting it together. One should not have to read upwards of 70 pages in order to gain a paragraph's worth of insight about postminimalism.

The entire book follows this dismall format. As a reference I would never recommend this book to anyone. The photographs are almost entirely devoid of color, not to mention a necessary amount of detail or perspective. The writing itself is dry, unimaginative and lacking in structure. I found myself falling asleep during every reading I've ever done out of this book, regardless of time of day or frame of mind. You simply cannot stay awake through any given chapter of this book, no matter how much coffee, caffine or sugar you keep on hand.

Do yourself a favor and stay away from this....I would have to be paid a healthy sum of money before I would ever read this book of my own free will. What readings are required of me as part of the course are utter and complete torture, even for a hardcore academic like myself.

I will not argue that Sandler is knowledgable as one can be about the subject, but a worldly art critic does not a good author make. Something to keep in mind.

6 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy duty guide to art in recent times., May 1, 2000

By 

Puneet Tanwar (Hyderabad) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art Of The Postmodern Era: From The Late 1960s To The Early 1990s (Hardcover)

Content is good but in my opinion, the book is overpriced for its size.