From the Fountainhead to the Future and Other Essays on Art and Excellence (Paperback)

by Alexandra York (Author), Joseph Veach Noble (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Fountainhead to the Future offers an upbeat rejoinder to the 'trangressional' tirades that have become the staple of established opinion." -- Roger Kimball, managing editor for the New Criterion, reviewing for American Outlook.

"Taking on modern art powers-that-be requires a keen mind, courage, and well-developed ability to communicate, all of which shine through her shared thoughts." -- Dr. Pierre Rioux wrting for Telicom Magazine

In a more optimistic age than ours, Matthew Arnold said that the uppermost idea with Hellenism is to see things as they really are; he also said that masses make movements, individualities explode them. Alexandra York sees Modernism and Postmodernism as they really are and invites individuals with courage and vision to join her in exploding their foolishness and in pursuing the lofty alternative: Beauty. -- Arthur Pontynen Ph.D., Art Department Chair, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, WI

Many people think that art is an elusive subject, fluttering about like a butterfly; therefore, anyone who tries to pin it down by writing about it faces a daunting challenge. Alexandra York has seized this opportunity of expressing her analyses, judgements and hopes for the art of today. She has done this through her essays, which are insightful and thought-provoking. -- Joseph Veach Noble, Director Emeritus, Museum of the city of New York; Former Vice Director, the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Past President, American Association of Museums

The art world has seen many changes in the 20th century, and we can only guess at what the new millennium holds in store for us. In this collection of essays, Alexandra York expresses a point of view, which is popular but little heard: that art should be uplifting. In her desire to promote beauty through the arts, she examines and tackles a number of contentious topics of today, and presents a clear vision of what our cultural legacy of tomorrow could bring as we move into the next century. -- Gwen Pier, Executive Director, National Sculpture Society

The much credentialed Alexandra York has forged a collection of essays, which certainly advances arts interests on many levels. This gifted writer who is quite a wordsmith tackles a broad range of subject matter and keeps the reader interested. It is quite a challenge to determine a favorite essay, as each incomplete and uniquely faceted. When one closes Yorks creative enterprise, one certainly has been engaged and enlightened. Ms. York is a gifted thinker and one can only hope her latest work will find a large audience. Her style is one of relaxed-seriousness, but her passion for her subject matter is of hurricane proportions. What a resource for the new millennium which should be on every government leaders desk. -- O. Aldon James, Jr., President, The National Arts Club

Product Description
Art is a shortcut to philosophy declares Alexandra York in this challenging collection of essays offered for the specific purpose of suggesting which art and ideas should be championed and advanced if we are to generate an American Renaissance at the dawn of this new millennium. The result of her efforts is no less than a blueprint for a revolution in the arts. Nothing since Tom Wolfes The Painted Word has so daringly called for a reconsideration of where the tastemaking establishment has been taking us.

Boldly addressing the anomaly of a nation experiencing both unprecedented material prosperity and cultural bankruptcy and calling herself a radical for beauty, she frankly spurns twentieth century primitivism, nihilism, deconstructionism and political correctness. As a potent antidote to our cultural malaise, she advocates revitalizing the fundamental tenets of our philosophical heritage (ancient Greece) by imbuing contemporary art created in the established Western heritage art forms--representationalism in the visual arts; melody and harmony in music; structure and ideation in the written arts--with a positive and inspiring content that celebrates the world at its most beautiful and man and woman at their best. No revivalist, she also spurns nostalgia and urges those of us who love life and the art that enhances living to enjoy and enrich our moments on this earth through art experiences that lift our spirits, move us to contemplative thought and remind us why life is worth living.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: American Renaissance for the Twenty-First Cen (February 5, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967644402
• ISBN-13: 978-0967644400
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,556,716 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now I REALLY Know Why Art Is Important!, April 24, 2000

By	Michael J. Hurd Ph.D., Author of EFFECTIVE TH... (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Ms. York does not simply explain why art is important. She also explains why art is important to YOU. She motivates you, the reader, to both appreciate and understand what various works of art are "saying" to you. Her style is enlightened but in no way pretentious. Also, as an added bonus, she offers many excellent insights on psychology and society. She is one of the very few intellectuals I know of, for example, to say: "I suggest to you that the nation's schools could not have failed, as they have, unless mothers and fathers failed first by abdicating their parental responsibility as guardians of their children's inner development." Excellent and courageous point -- brilliantly articulated, and backed up with extensive examples. The book is full of insights like this one. I highly recommend it.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Companion to Ayn Rand's _Romantic Manifesto_, May 11, 2000

By	Jason Lockwood (Phoenix, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

Over the past several years, Alexandra York has written many cogent articles on art and culture. She defends beauty and representational art beautifully and forcefully in her passionate, but gentle style. She neither bludgeons the reader nor insults him. With the force of her conviction, she gently persuades - and that is a great virtue in a culture dominated by ad hominem attacks. Now, she has collected her best essays in her new book, _From the Fountainhead to the Future_.

I cheered while reading that we should consider Homer the *real* spiritual forefather of the West, and thus we should change our calendars to the year *3000*. She correctly identifies ancient Greece as the intellectual foundation of the West.

If you are looking for a rational defense of what art can and should be and what kind of culture would make such art possible, _From the Fountainhead to the Future_ is an excellent companion to Ayn Rand's seminal work on the philosophy of art.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to Cultivate a Personal, Selfish Love of Art, May 29, 2000

By	David Gulbraa (Costa Mesa, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The best thing about Alexandra York's atitude towards art is her constant focus on all art as a profound personal value to her. The essays in this book are not detached, unemotional discussions--they make it clear that Alexandra cares about art--and she explains why she does, and why and how you can as well. My personal favorite of all the essays is the last in the book--"Sharing the Miracle"--in which she describes a trip to a sculpture foundry to witness the actual process by which finished works are bronzed. If reading this book can help anyone attain the exalted state of passion for art that Alexandra demonstrates in this one essay, then this book will have more than served its purpose and achieved its goal. Way to go, Alexandra! Keep your fountainhead flowing!