Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today) [Paperback]

Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe (Author)

Book Description

Series: Aesthetics Today | Publication Date: December 1, 1999

Esteemed critic, painter, and writer Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe offers a provocative critique of beauty in relation to the contemporary notion of the sublime, which is now found in technology and a high-powered economy rather than in nature. Refuting established views, this book questions today's ideas of beauty, including those applied to contemporary art, and proposes a secular theory of beauty as glamorous rather than good, frivolous rather than serious. An illuminating read, this book provides excellent course material for classes in philosophy, cultural studies, art history, and aesthetics.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe is a critic, painter, and author of several books, including Beyond Piety: Critical Essays on the Visual Arts 1986–1993 and Immanence and Contradiction: Recent Essays on the Artistic Device. He has been awarded National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in painting and criticism as well as a Guggenheim fellowship in painting, and was presented the 1998 Frank Jewett Mather Award for Art Criticism by the College Art Association. He teaches in the graduate program at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Allworth Press (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581150377
• ISBN-13: 978-1581150377
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 0.4 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, April 21, 2011

By 

swalrun - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today) (Paperback)

I am an art student pursuing my undergraduate degree in Sculpture and Art Education. I was assigned to read an art criticism book for my Contemporary Issues in Art Criticism class. I chose this book because I am quite interested in beauty and its place in the contemporary art conversation, and love learning about philosophy, and have a very small base of knowledge in these areas which I would like to expand. I regret to say, though, that this book didn't meet all of my expectations. I was frustrated because the author made the assumption that his audience was already well versed on the conversation of beauty and sublime, and I found myself lost and confused in much of the book. If I had the time to go through and research every question that arose as I read, I'm sure I would have learned a great deal and probably would have enjoyed the book, but unfortunately that wasn't practical and I stopped a little shy of halfway through out of frustration and confusion. If you frequently read books by art critics, and are familiar with philosophical views on aesthetics, you will have a much more productive and enriching experience with this book than I did.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Talks a lot but says nothing, October 2, 2010

By 

Harry "Harry" (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today) (Paperback)

I read this book a few years ago with my book group. It was suggested by a member who was and is a working artist. Other members of the book group were also artists, had been to art school, regularly read art criticism, etc. Previous to this book, we had read Joyce, Pynchon, and other weighty writers who demand close attention and provoke debate.

Reading this mess however, none of us could figure out the argument or arguments, if any, the author was making. I should have realized after reading in the first chapter about how in one version of the story of the Trojan War, Helen had been murdered by her husband's in-laws, that this book was going to go nowhere. Wouldn't that mean she was killed by her own parents? That kind of deliberate obscurity ran through the book. Constant references to Derrida didn't help. The author still had nothing to say, but took a whole book to say it.

There were times when he seemed to be developing an argument or a point of view, only to have it lead nowhere. At the end of the book, I was so angry I almost returned it to the book store I bought it from. I didn't because it wasn't the physical aspects of the book that were defective, but the inner aspects. I would like to tell more, give more examples, and be more specific, but like I said earlier, I read it a long time ago, and I got rid of it, probably at a yard sale.

14 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing coverage on the role of beauty in our culture., July 3, 2000

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime (Aesthetics Today) (Paperback)

Art critic Gilbert-Rolfe explores beauty's changing role and aesthetics in society in Beauty and the Contemporary Sublime, a survey which blends philosophy and discussions of modern art and perceptions of beauty. An intriguing coverage which enters the debate about the role of beauty in our culture.