Customer Reviews

The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art (Dover Fine Art, History of Art)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the exact same book as the great "An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art" by Roger Lipsey which, although it is out of print, is listed separately on Amazon and available used.

When this book first appeared, it was a revelation and completely transformed my approach to creating art. Now, some 20 years later, I still find it one of, if not the very finest book on the spiritual tradition of modern art. In my opinion, it's a monumental work by an inspiring, deeply informed writer! If you're serious about learning the fundamental purpose of genuine abstraction, this is the place to start.

The symbolism employed by the great abstract pioneers such as Kandinsky, Mondrian and Malevich is far from being a merely personal thing, but rather springs from the collective unconscious and is in truth the foundation of all things Universal. As established by Frazer (The Golden Bough), Campbell (Hero With a Thousand Faces) and David Fideler (Jesus Christ, Sun of God), we have common instincts, desires, motivations and beliefs that can and are expressed through symbols or metaphors.

How these universal ideas and feelings came to be expressed succinctly through the evolution of painting and abstraction is masterfully documented by Lipsey and establishes the initial impetus for modern art. This is essential knowledge for artists interested in learning the traditions from which abstraction transformed representational images and gave birth to an art of our own, as opposed to forms dictated by church, state or the marketplace.

I read the previous edition (which I understand is the same.) The content and perspective is important, astute, and motivational. I liked the book so much I sought out a hardback, as a long-term keeper. He combines an introduction/review of primary theories behind modern art, such as Kandinsky's, with intelligent perspectives on subjects such as who are contemporary trail-blazers in art that reaches a deeper/higher ground. Note the art-work is all black-and-white instead of color, but the reproductions are of good quality. The text is the main point here.