Passages in Modern Sculpture [Paperback]

Rosalind E. Krauss (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0262610337 | ISBN-13: 978-0262610339 | Publication Date: February 26, 1981

Studies major works by important sculptors since Rodin in the light of different approaches to general sculptural issues to reveal the logical progressions from nineteenth-century figurative works to the conceptual work of the present.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Distinguished art historian and critic Rosalind Krauss analyzes with exceptional clarity and insight the major works that have led 20th century sculpture from the traditional and figurative to the revolutionary conceptual art of the 1970s—an art which has developed a new 'syntax' that discards 'narrative' for instantaneous impact and boldly breaks new ground. Beginning with a penetrating study of Rodin's modernity in rejecting 'narrative' in his 'The Gates of Hell,' she moves successively through detailed examinations of futurism, constructivism, Duchamps' 'readymades,' Brancusi, David Smith's 'Tanktotem,' sculptural realism, and the introduction of light, motion, and theatrical elements into sculpture by Picabia, Calder, Oldenburg, and others right up to younger sculptors like Carl Andre, Blochner, and others [including Robert Morris, Don Judd, Richard Serra, Sol Le Witt, Robert Smithson, and Michael Heizer]. As critic and theorist, Krauss makes demands that will challenge even the most sophisticated." Publishers Weekly

"...Krauss's book is undoubtedly the best treatment of its subject yet written. As a textbook, it ought to raise the level of discourse in art history classes, for it is the meaning, not the chronology, of sculpture since Rodin that is the book's central concern. Krauss avoids the conventional plodding survey and divides the book into a sequence of 'case studies' that permit sustained attention to specific works and artists. In so doing, she attempts to trace a 'tradition' to stand behind that portion of American sculpture of the past 15 years which she espouses critically." Art in America

"The book is well illustrated in black and white and is, for an art book, of a convenient and manageable size. The text is rigorously formalistic and analytical and organized around specific sculptural considerations such as the treatment of narrative time, the handling of space, and the game strategies of surrealist sculpture. It is an approach that pays off particularly well in the author's discussions of Rodin and David Smith." Saturday Review

About the Author

Rosalind E. Krauss, University Professor at Columbia University and an editor and cofounder of October magazine, is the author of The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths (1985), The Optical Unconscious (1993), The Picasso Papers (1999), and Bachelors (1999), all published by the MIT Press, and coauthor (with Yve-Alain Bois) of Formless: A User's Guide (Zone Books, 1997).

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (February 26, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262610337
• ISBN-13: 978-0262610339
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Arts & Photography > Sculpture

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An impressive achievement, May 7, 2008

By 

Tomas Hribek (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passages in Modern Sculpture (Paperback)

This is Krauss's first book, and the one I like best. Her history of modern sculpture from Rodin to Robert Smithson is grounded in a sophisticated theoretical perspective, but it's not collapsing under the weight of theory like many later Krauss's texts. Her theoretical framework in this early book is phenomenological -- she made a transition to structuralist and poststructuralist theories later in the seventies. Phenomenology -- in particular, Merleau-Pontyan phenomenology -- allows for many thought-provoking readings of modern sculpture. However, the basic assumption of the book -- viz., that there have been some parallels between the development of modern sculpture and phenomenological thought -- is flawed. There is no evidence that the artists discussed by Krauss heard of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty and their theories. Many other authors beside Krauss make a similar unjustified assumption of various "parallelisms" and "influences." Basically, this is historicism -- a belief in some sort of Zeitgeist at work in all cultural forms of a particular age. Still, the book makes for a much more rewarding read that coutless superficial, merely descriptive histories of modern sculpture, or modern art in general.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Passages In Modern Sculpture, November 1, 2010

By 

Jovanna - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passages in Modern Sculpture (Paperback)

THIS ITEM WAS GREAT IT HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP TO ME. I WOULD HIGLY RECOMMEND OTHERS TO PURCHASE THIS ITEM.

1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars ugh, October 6, 2010

By 

Frappo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Passages in Modern Sculpture (Paperback)

Horribly wordy, strangely organized, and with long analogies practically unrelated to sculpture. Maybe if you really REALLY love sculpture or art history this could be interesting to you, but as a required text for one of my classes it is a tedious and gag inducing read.