The Desire of My Eyes: The Life & Work of John Ruskin [Paperback]

Wolfgang Kemp (Author), Jan Van Heurck (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1992

This "tour de force of analysis" (Joel Agee) examines the life and work of the prolific, visionary writer, painter and critic. Kemp finds in Ruskin's life -- which spanned the same years as Queen Victoria's and thus embodied the Victorian era itself -- a faithful mirror of the history and psychological evolution of his age.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Examining the English critic alongside Byron, Carlyle, Karl Kraus and others of his time, and considering views of him given by Shaw and Proust, the author, a German art historian, contends that Ruskin (1819-1900) was a reflection of Victorian history and pathology. Kemp regards him as not only a major reformer, educator and ecologist, but also as a great realistic draftsman whose drawings reveal developing emotional instability. Increasingly, Ruskin's attention moved from art to society as he came to criticize capitalism, religion, technology, the destruction of nature--and himself. First sightseer, then see-er, finally seer and mythmaker, Ruskin in his old age became industry as well as institution: there were Ruskin ceramics and linens, even Ruskin cigars. This distinguished work, gracefully translated, is illustrated with portraits of the critic and drawings by him.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Artist, writer, and world traveler, Ruskin moved vigorously through Victorian times with a unique view of the way things were and a strong conviction regarding the way they should be. His ideas, whether aesthetic, moral, or political, influenced lay audiences as well as his artistic and intellectual peers. The portraits that open each chapter of this book provide a literal as well as literary depiction of this man, too often seen as either saint or madman. But though the renewed interest in Ruskin may allow for a more balanced view of the man and his ideas, this somewhat awkward translation of a 1983 introduction for German audiences is too superficial to provide such a portrait.
-Paula Frosch, Metropolitan Museum of Art Lib., New York
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (August 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374523487
• ISBN-13: 978-0374523480
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,506,816 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:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Desire of My Eyes, June 11, 2009

By 

Marlene Schiller - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Desire of My Eyes: The Life & Work of John Ruskin (Paperback)

Very extensive biography of a man who was a Man of his Time, the Victorian Era and who was both a "seer and a prophet". His ideas about the preservation of nature, economics and social reform still resonate today.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Engaging Biography of Ruskin and Account of the Victorian Era, April 12, 2011

By 

Robert S. Costic - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Desire of My Eyes: The Life & Work of John Ruskin (Paperback)

I got this book because I wanted an introduction to John Ruskin, who was a famous art critic and social critic in Victorian Britain, and this biography does an excellent job of narrating the major events of Ruskin's life, explaining Ruskin's major ideas, and describing the world that Ruskin lived in. Interestingly enough, this book was originally written in German and then translated into English, which explains why the author sometimes compares Ruskin's ideas to contemporaries living in Germany, but it works.

1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book., May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Desire of My Eyes: The Life & Work of John Ruskin (Paperback)

This is really good book