Goddesses in Art [Hardcover]

F. Lanier Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1997

Fascination with the goddess as a powerful figure throughout humanity's history has been growing since the contemporary women's movement evolved in the 1960s. An elemental part of all religious pantheons before the Iron Age, goddesses have resurfaced in the modern era as embodiments of female strength and wisdom. Encompassing a variety of media -- sculpture, painting, photography, performance art, and film -- Goddesses in Art offers an abundance of images of the goddess as the ultimate creator and destroyer of life; as fertility figure; and as ruler of love and war. The artists who have portrayed her in all her guises range from prehistoric and tribal shamans to European painters and sculptors such as Bernini, Rubens, and Titian to modern artists including Louise Bourgeois, Audrey Flack, Frida Kahlo, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Such a beauteous array of women in stone, bronze, iron and gold makes of this book one of the most fascinating volumes in our historyreally a marvel." - Broox Sledge, Book World -- Broox Sledge, Book World

From the Publisher

Fascination with the goddess as a powerful figure throughout history has been growing since the contemporary women's movement evolved in the 1960s. An elemental part of all religious pantheons before the Iron Age, goddesses have resurfaced in the modern era as embodiments of female strength and wisdom, encompassing a variety of media -- sculpture, painting, photography, performance art, and film. The artists who have portrayed her in all her guises range from prehistoric and tribal shamans to European painters and sculptors such as Bernini, Rubens, and Titian to modern artists including Louise Bourgeois, Audrey Flack, Frida Kahlo, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Artabras Publishers; First Edition edition (April 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896600688
• ISBN-13: 978-0896600683
• Product Dimensions: 12.4 x 9.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,840,735 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A celebration of the feminine., April 21, 1998

By 

elena (Dublin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Goddesses in Art (Hardcover)

This book is an extraordinary collection of images from many different cultures and countries. We discover how the image of women has evolved, how different powers were attributed to the feminine, over time. It is a celebration of the feminine, reminding us visually of the ways in which different cultures, throughout the history of the human race, have worshipped and sometimes feared the feminine, associating it with life and healing, but also with death, war and demonic powers. We learn so much about a culture when we reflect on which aspects of the feminine they chose to worship. "Generator of all creation," she is also "destroyer of all creation"! I particularly enjoyed the beautiful chapter on the goddesses of wisdom.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful imagery, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Goddesses in Art (Hardcover)

This book is absolutely wonderful. It's great to see a book focused on the goddess in art. The photographs in the book are very well done.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful rendering of The Goddess in words and images., May 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Goddesses in Art (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book. Graham is a lifetime student of spirituality who deeply understands what he studies -- and who is able to communicate that understanding in luminous words and images. "Goddesses in Art" is a book of enormous range, a tour of spiritual traditions through history and across the world. Graham reaffirms The Goddess (whose whole spectrum of possibilities fills these pages), but also underscores the ways in which goddesses intertwine with gods in most traditions to generate our world. For me, part of the fun of the book was to trace the ways these intertwinings are expressed, as in the Hindu view of "the [male] motionless transcendent and the [female] energy by which the transcendent moves through the material world." All who read "Goddesses in Art" will find favorite passages and images of their own, and (I think I can promise!) will be enriched in the finding.