Art History's History [Hardcover]

Minor Vernon hyde (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0810919443 | ISBN-13: 978-0810919440 | Publication Date: April 1, 1994

Deconstruction, semiotics, feminism, Marxism, the Other. Whatever happened to the pure pleasure of looking at a painting or sculpture? To connoisseurship? To reverence for artistic genius? The New Art History, as it is called, is questioning most of the assumptions that art lovers have cherished for a long time. Formal analysis of pictorial and spatial elements, the study of iconography, and a belief that the artist and the work of art are of primary importance are all, suddenly, out of fashion. At least for now, they seem pushed to the sidelines by a bewildering array of theoretical approaches and methodologies. These shifts have dramatically affected all facets of the art scene, from how exhibition themes are chosen and which artworks are included, to what critics say about who's in and who's out. Art History's History offers a clear, sympathetic perspective on the present confusion. In refreshingly lively prose, this book presents, in author Vernon Hyde Minor's words, "what art history is, where it came from, what ideas, institutions and practices form its background, how it achieved its present shape, and what critical methods it uses." Minor looks at the history of art history from three angles, beginning with the tradition of the academy, which reaches back to Plato's Academy on the outskirts of Athens, up through the current locus of artistic training, the university. The second approach is a critique of how art was defined and explained from ancient times until the seventeenth century, when art history first emerged as a discipline. Finally, we are guided through modern art history, starting with an introduction to the founders and shapers of art-historical thinking as we knewit until recently - Winckelmann, Kant, Hegel, Riegl, Wolfflin, Morelli, Fry, and Panofsky - on through to the many contextual, historiographic, sociopolitical, and psychoanalytic perspectives that dominate the study and criticism of art today. Art History's History is a very welco

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The current discipline of art history has undergone a number of changes through the years. This book is an attempt to track the evolution of its methodology and demonstrate why art history has been presented and taught, particularly in American academia. In the course of delineating this history, however, Minor confuses brevity for elegance. He mentions the standard authorities (e.g., Winckelmann, Riegl, Wolfflin, and Fry) and gives succinct coverage of Marxism, feminist theory, deconstruction, and semiotics. Yet, while his abbreviated summaries of the treatment of art from antiquity to the 18th century are good, important points seem to be telescoped and their relevance diminished. In addition, his concluding "Consequences for Art History" is astonishingly short. Meant for students and general readers, this work does not compare favorably with W. McAllister Johnson's Art History: Its Use and Abuse (Univ. of Toronto Pr., 1988), and the growth of the newer methodological approaches is better explained in The New Art History (Humanities Pr., 1988).
Paula A. Baxter, NYPL
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

Written in jargon-free, reader-friendly language, this is one of the first volumes to make art historical theory accessible to those at the introductory level. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810919443
• ISBN-13: 978-0810919440
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #916,362 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 Art History's History, March 23, 2000

By 

H. K. A (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art History's History (Hardcover)

This is a great little summary of the discipline of Art History. It's a concise & well-written overview of the place of Art in Western History and Academica, from Ancient Greece to 20th Century America. You'll find it to be an easy but very informative read. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in Western Art, Philosophy, and/or History.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book for beginning Art Histroy Graduate students., October 21, 2009

By 

Eli Hernandez, Jr (San Antonio, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art History's History (Paperback)

This book was required reading for my graduate Research Methods and Writing course. We used it in conjunction with Donald Preziosi's the Art of Art History. The combination of the two books is a great resource for anyone entering their MA in Art History. Art History's History is a helpful overall review of the different time periods. It is a good resource for reader-friendly art historical writings.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars reductive, but still very useful, October 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Art History's History (Paperback)

Minor has undertaken the impossible. Any historiography that is limited to 200 pages will undoubtedly be overly reductive. However, this does not entirely discredit Minor's work. While one may take issue with him in a number of places (particularly his chapter on feminism) he provides a generally well-balanced, user-friendly introduction to theories of modern scholarship. Minor is very cognizant of his own fallibility. He recognizes that his sketches of modern methodologies are inadequate. But he provides the necessary background for anyone who wishes to understand the state of contemporary art history.
At the conclusion of this book the reader is left unsatisfied. Yet I think that this may have been Minor's intent (I realize I am being a terrible deconstructionist). His aim, rather, seems to be to ignite an interest in students of art history, that they might, of their own volition, continue their study of art historical methodologies. If this is indeed Minor's aim, he succeeds.