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Library | Item Barcode | Call Number | Material Type | Item Category 1 | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Searching... | 30000010125557 | N6494.S8 G72 2005 | Open Access Book | Book | Searching... |
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Summary
Summary
This 2005 study traces the development of Surrealist theory of visual art and its reception, from the birth of Surrealism to its institutionalization in the mid-1930s. Situating Surrealist art theory in its theoretical and discursive contexts, Kim Grant demonstrates the complex interplay between Surrealism and contemporary art criticism. She examines the challenge to Surrealist art raised by the magazine Cahiers d'Art, which promoted a group of young painters dedicated to a liberated and poetic painting process that was in keeping with the formalist evolution of modern art. Grant also discusses the centrality of visual art in Surrealism as a material manifestation of poetry, the significance of poetry in French theories of modern art, and the difficulties faced by an avant-garde art movement at a time when contemporary audiences had come to expect revolutionary innovation.
Reviews 1
Choice Review
Grant (art history, Univ. of Southern Maine) attempts to provide a fresh perspective on the oft-treated subject of surrealism and its relationship to literature. The originality of Grant's enterprise derives from the previous lack of interpretation of surrealist writings on aspects of visual art, despite their frequent reprinting in art historical scholarship. The author replaces this "passive reflection" and insular consideration with a critical examination that recontextualizes surrealist writings within the larger frame of contemporary art criticism. Grant argues that visual art was a key central concern of surrealism because painting and sculpture were seen as material manifestations of poetry. (Most scholars identify literature as most important and visual art as a subsidiary focus, at best.) Among Grant's primary sources are articles found in the periodicals La Revolution Surrealiste, produced by the movement itself, and Cahiers d'Art, the primary competing mainstream publication, as well as exhibition catalogs and artists' letters. The encyclopedic and archival treatment of the subject is consistent with its basis in doctoral dissertation, but despite an attendant wordiness, this book makes a significant contribution to scholarship on surrealism and art criticism in general. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students through professionals. E. K. Menon Purdue University
Table of Contents
| Part I Poetry in the Theory and Criticism of Modern Painting in France |
| 1 The tradition of poetry and lyricism in French art criticism |
| 2 Modern painting as poetic language |
| 3 The discovery of lyricism |
| 4 Andre Breton and modern art |
| Part II Establishing a Surrealist Visual Art |
| 5 Defining Surrealism |
| 6 Defining Surrealist visual art |
| 7 Surrealism and painting I: the foundation of Surrealist art |
| 8 La Peinture Surrealiste: the presentation of Surrealist art and its reception |
| 9 Surrealism and painting II: materialism and morality |
| Part III The Threat of Surrealist Art |
| 10 Initiating the challenge |
| 11 Surrealism and painting III: avoiding automatism |
| 12 Appropriating automatism |
| 13 Realism and Surrealism |
| Part IV Poetry Made Concrete |
| 14 Defying painting |
| 15 Remaking reality |
| 16 Automatic style |
| 17 Conclusion: Surrealism as an institution |
