Paths to the Absolute [Hardcover]

John Golding (Author)

Book Description

Series: A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts | Publication Date: October 15, 2000

From Mondrian's bold geometric forms to Kandinsky's use of symbols to Pollock's "dripped paintings," the richly diverse movement of abstract painting challenges anyone trying to make sense of either individual works or the phenomenon as a whole. Applying his insights as an art historian and a painter, John Golding offers a unique approach to understanding the evolution of abstractionism by looking at the personal artistic development of seven of its greatest practitioners. He re-creates the journey undertaken by each painter in his move from representational art to the abstract--a journey that in most cases began with cubism but led variously to symbolism, futurism, surrealism, theosophy, anthropology, Jungian analysis, and beyond. For each artist, spiritual quest and artistic experimentation became inseparable. And despite their different techniques and philosophies, these artists shared one goal: to break a path to a new, ultimate pictorial truth.

The book first explores the works and concerns of three pioneering European abstract painters--Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky--and then those of their American successors--Pollock, Newman, Rothko, and Still. Golding shows how each painter sought to see the world and communicate his vision in the purest or most expressive form possible. For example, Mondrian found his way into abstraction through a spiritual response to the landscape of his native Holland, Malevich through his apprehension of the human body, Kandinsky through a blend of religious mysticism and symbolism. Line and color became the focus for many of their creative endeavors. In the 1940s and 50s, the Americans raised the level of pictorial innovation, beginning most notably with Pollock and his Jung-inspired concept of action.p>Golding makes a powerful case that at its best and most profound, abstract painting is heavily imbued with meaning and content. Through a blend of biography, art analysis, and cultural history, Paths to the Absolute offers remarkable insights into how a sense of purpose is achieved in painting, and how abstractionism engaged with the intellectual currents of its time.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Who's afraid of abstract art? Many, many people, it seems. Seldom has an art movement been so misunderstood, yet been so instrumental in shaping the direction of art in so many ways. In this series of lectures, distinguished art historian and critic Golding brings to life an often-disconcerting subject. Studded throughout with colorful illustrations, Golding shows the progression of modern, abstract art from its roots in expressionism and Fauvism to its postmodern expressions. The artists featured--Mondrian, Malevich, Kandinsky, Newman, Rothko, and Still--are all exemplars of a specific turn taken in the development of abstract art. Each chapter illustrates that turn and approachably describes each artist's artistic growth and influence on the future. Golding clearly communicates the artists' visions, the vision of abstract art, and why it's so important to understand the abstract movement in relation to where art is going. Golding's excellent work brings the reader from an artistic cloud of unknowing into expert mode with beauty and precision. Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

[A] sensitive survey of seven of art's most influential abstract painters. . . -- The Sunday



A beautifully designed, superbly illustrated volume . . . -- Carter Ratcliff, Art and Auction



[Golding] argues that the best abstract art is about something and that its meaning comes partly from the artist. The modernists he discusses were drenched in ideas, especially of better or hidden worlds. -- The Economist



Seldom has an art movement been so misunderstood, yet so instrumental in shaping the direction of art in so many ways. . . . Golding's excellent work brings the reader from an artistic cloud of unknowing into expert mode with beauty and precision. -- Booklist



The skill of Golding's style is that it draws together considerations of art-historical significance, aesthetic value . . . and personal opinion into a provocative amalgam. -- Matthew Reynolds, Times Literary Supplement



The restraint, subtlety, and intellectual rigor of John Golding's Paths to the Absolute . . . are especially timely. -- The New York Review of Books



Short, lucid, and written in a wonderfully jargon-free prose. -- Michael White, Burlington Magazine



Whether writing of Mondrian's quest for the purity of art, Pollock's search for the symbol, or Rothko's abstract sublime, the author eloquently conveys the deep spiritual impulses of such art in vivid and learned analyses. -- Virginia Quarterly Review



John Golding beautifully handles the thorniest of subjects. . . . The narrative maintains what was indeed the tenor of the talks themselves a shrewd selectiveness allied to insights of a discretion that almost belies their profundity. . . . It is the extraordinary rightness of the perceptions running throughout Paths to the Absolute which makes it finally so memorable. -- David Anfam, Apollo

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (October 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691048967
• ISBN-13: 978-0691048963
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 7.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,369 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finely Integrated Research, July 21, 2002

By 

"simonrothechild" (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paths to the Absolute (Hardcover)

Golding's thesis is beyond debate: early modernist and abstract art in particular constituted essential spiritual statements. While this thesis is obvious, even if oft forgotten, Golding marshals and integrates a wealth of research in this splendid series of lectures. There are two minor problems with the book that bear mention. At turns Golding lacks the necessary critical posture. He discusses Barnett Newman at length, for example, and there can be no doubt that this artist supplies ample theoretical grist for Golding's mill. But Newman's actual painting ultimately cannot bear a fraction of his metaphysical intentions - an unfortunate fact and one that Golding fails to mention. Also, Goldman does not attempt to bring his book current. He would have done well to hold up contemporary painting against his finely focused history. In most respects this would reveal that abstraction has lost its way. However, a brief survey and analysis of the work of Helmut Federle, Astrid Colomar, Joseph Marioni, Agnes Martin, and Brice Marden would have demonstrated that there remain enriching artists who have remained on the path to the absolute.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking discussion by Golding about abstraction, August 16, 2001

By 

V. Garlock "Radical Feminist" (Sandusky, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paths to the Absolute (Hardcover)

Before I read this book, I didn't believe that abstract art had a spiritual content to it. I felt that it was too scientific. But reading this book has made me examine the art, and, also, to appreciate that this art does have a spiritualness to it.

This book delves into the art of Piet Mondrian, Kasimir Malevich, Vasily Kandinsky, Jackson Pollock, Barnett Newman, Mark Rothko, and Clyfford Still. There are individual chapters devoted to the first 4 painters names, and 2 chapters given to discuss Newman, Rothko, and Still as a group.

This book obviously can't do an in depth look at the painters featured, but it does impress upon the reader how each artist brought a spiritualness into his art, and how through that discovered his way of reaching the absolute in his art.

There is a mix of in color, and black and white, reproductions in the book. The works of the artists that proved to most influencial in abstraction are shown in color, while others--not so much of lesser importance, but not as perhaps influencial--are shown in black and white. Also, there are pictures from artists such as Picasso and Matisse, and others, featured to show how the abstraction artists used--or were inspired by-- different movements to find their way into abstraction.

The most interesting part of the book is the discussion of how spirituality is in the abstractionist art. For example, Mondrian was for many years a follower of Theosophy, and part of the Theosophy doctrine was that one is free of all oppression...and everything will be free of all oppression. Mondrian would later move on to seek different teachings, Golding states, but Theosophy gave him his first real direction into becoming an abstractionist.

This book is a good introduction for anyone not familiar with abstraction and its influence on modern art, as well as a having a wealth of information about the artists themselves.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear and engaging; great scholarship, June 10, 2008

By 

Sarah (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paths to the Absolute (Hardcover)

I used this book while writing my undergraduate art history thesis. It proved to be invaluable--it's factual but very engaging, and I was quite inspired by some of Golding's arguments. There were many details mentioned in this book that I didn't find in other, more "definitive" books on these artists (such as the catalogues of major retrospectives). Though I used it for research, this collection of lectures-cum-essays would also make for good recreational reading for someone at least somewhat familiar with the history of abstraction in art, or interested in a close study. This is not, however, the best "picture book" or light introduction for a person more interested in enjoying the paintings than reading academic criticism.