The 'invisible masterpiece' is an unattainable ideal, a work into which a dream of absolute art is incorporated but can never be realized. By means of this metaphor borrowed from Balzac, Hans Belting shows the variety of ways in which the status and meaning of the masterpiece have been elevated and denigrated since the early nineteenth century. The history of the masterpiece coincided with the history of the public museum. Leonardo's "Mona Lisa" and other celebrated paintings preoccupied later artists, who felt burdened by the one-time cult of the masterpiece as it had been transformed into the cult of visible works of art. Following Duchamp, artists became increasingly resistant to the notion of the masterpiece. Beginning in the 1960s, Conceptual and Minimal artists concentrated on ephemeral forms and manufactured multiple copies in order to reject the outmoded status of the one-off masterpiece and the art market that fed off it. "The Invisible Masterpiece" reveals works, events and individuals in the history of Western art in a wholly novel way.
Les mer
The 'invisible masterpiece' is an unattainable ideal, a work into which a dream of absolute art is incorporated but can never be realized. This book shows the variety of ways in which the status and meaning of the masterpiece have been elevated and denigrated since the early nineteenth century.
Les mer
"extraordinarily good, important, knoledgeable and fascinating" - Sunday Times
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781861891082
Publisert
2003-06-01
Utgiver
Vendor
Reaktion Books
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
168 mm
Aldersnivå
05, 06, UU, UP, P
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
480
Forfatter