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Pictures and Tears

by James Elkins (Author)

4.4 24 ratings

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Art Does art leave you cold? And is that what it's supposed to do? Or is a painting meant to move you to tears? Hemingway was reduced to tears in the midst of a drinking bout when a painting by James Thurber caught his eye. And what's bad about that? In Pictures and Tears, art historian James Elkins tells the story of paintings that have made people cry. Drawing upon anecdotes related to individual works of art, he provides a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past, and a meditation on the curious tearlessness with which most people approach art in the present. Deeply personal, Pictures and Tears is a history of emotion and vulnerability, and an inquiry into the nature of art. This book is a rare and invaluable treasure for people who love art. Also includes an 8-page color insert.

Review

"...a provocative and felicitous inquiry... the most arresting facet of his unique investigation is his charting of the declining value society places on heartfelt reactions to art... Elkins elucidates subtle conceptions of pictoral time, presence, and absence; criticizes the bloodlessness of most art-history texts; and indicts the marketplace atmosphere of most museums. Prized by Romantics in the not-so-distant past, art-inspired tears are disdained in our brittle, ironic milieu, a psychological and spiritual diminishment Elkins boldly and rightly decries." -- Donna Seaman, Booklist
"To cry in front of art is not a sign of weakness: it is the flexing of a truly aesthetic power. That is the truth we gain from James Elkins' admirably engaged and engaging book." -- Nigel Spivey, author of Enduring Creation
"A history of weeping, a meditation on our deepest responses to art, and an ethnography of his own tribe of art historians, Pictures and Tears attempts to reclaim aesthetic experience from what Elkins calls 'the poison well' of art history and theory. I wish I could have read this book before I had written my own." -- Tom Lutz, author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History ofTears
"In the course of reading this book I found the following to be especially valuable: Eileen John's questioning of traditional propositional accounts of knowledge in "Art and Knowledge," Alan Goldman's defense of the much attacked concepts of aesthetic ewww.trs.nyc.ny.us.experience and attitude in "The Aesthetic," and Denis Dutton's listing of characteristics of art found in all cultures in "Aesthetic Universals." This is an immensely useful book that belongs in every college library and on the bookshelves of all serious students of aesthetics. It certainly exemplifies the editors' claim that philosophical aesthetics is a vibrant field today. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism Spring 2003."

About the Author

James Elkins is Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He is the author of many books, including How to Use Your Eyes and What Painting Is, both published by Routledge.

ISBN-10

0415970539
ISBN-13

978-0415970532
Publication date

March 18, 2004
Language

English
Dimensions

5.43 x 0.67 x 8.5 inches
Print length

296 pages
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge (March 18, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 296 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0415970539
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0415970532
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.19 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.43 x 0.67 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,367 in Trade
- #4,235 in Communication & Media Studies
- #5,504 in Art History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 24 ratings

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James Elkins

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Hi, most everything about me, including unpublished texts, is on www.jameselkins.com. There are also lots of free texts on https://saic.academia.edu/JElkins.

*

James Elkins's writing focuses on the history and theory of images in art, science, and nature. Some of his books are exclusively on fine art (What Painting Is, Why Are Our Pictures Puzzles?). Others include scientific and non-art images, writing systems, and archaeology (The Domain of Images, On Pictures and the Words That Fail Them), and some are about natural history (How to Use Your Eyes).

He married Margaret MacNamidhe in 1994 on Inishmore, one of the Aran Islands, off the West coast of Ireland. Margaret is also an art historian, with specialties in Delacroix and the history of drawing.

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Susanne Sterner

moving and interesting

Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2013

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Since I'm a person who started crying in front of pictures (three times) it was very interesting and moving to learn about other peoples experiences. I'm not that weird. :-)

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2023

Verified Purchase

And since its not a picture book, my self-diagnosed, boredom-induced narcolepsy will be the cause of me NEVER reading this (likely well-researched) book.

Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

One of the best books on paintings and our reaction to them with tears and emotion.

One person found this helpful

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MISUN PARK

The view that you project is your desire and your knowledge itself

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020

The essence of innocent soul. You are impressed with the pictures infront of youself. The pictures tell you the mystery and magic of abstract beauty. No disturbance and no noises.

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2020

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Purchased for research - fulfilled my quest.

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Michael Saur

A book to always return to

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2009

"Pictures and Tears" is a rare book, smart, knowledgeable and soulful, an eloquent homage to the mysteries of art. I bought it several times and gave it to friends, most of them painters. I also gave it to Oliver Sacks, who I interviewed for a German magazine, after he told me he was working on a book on tears.

2 people found this helpful

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GiovanniGF

Great thesis but flawed delivery

Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2013

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The topic is fascinating, and when Elkins talks about specific works of art he is great. Unfortunately, when he talks about emotions he doesn't say much and he repeats his few points insufferably; a good editor would have trimmed this book by a quarter. That said, Elkins' thesis that we've forgotten how to engage with paintings emotionally - and the role that museums and art historians play in this development - will stay with you and affect the way you look at art in the future.

Also note that the formatting for the Kindle is terrible. Particularly galling when the publisher is charging twice the usual rate for ebooks.

7 people found this helpful

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Timothy C. Wingate

AFFECTING AND AFFECTIONATE BOOK

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2004

This book is beautifully illustrated with paintings by Caravaggio, Greuze, Bellini (Giovanni), Bouts, and Friedrich along with a picture of a chapel designed by Mark Rothko.
As the blurb states, it is a "strange and wonderful investigation into paintings and the emotions they conjure."
The book is eloquently written by the author James Elkins who is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has also authored "How To Use Your Eyes" and "What Painting Is".
This is a highly affecting book and will give hours of pleasure to those discerning readers who have the privilege to read the author's opus.
Timothy Wingate from OTTAWA CANADA

7 people found this helpful

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