A World Art History and Its Objects

by David Carrier

Overview

Is writing a world art history possible? Does the history of art as such even exist outside the Western tradition? Is it possible to consider the history of art in a way that is not fundamentally Eurocentric? In this highly readable and provocative book, David Carrier, a philosopher and art historian, does not attempt to write a world art history himself. Rather, he asks the question of how an art history of all cultures could be written—or whether it is even possible to do so. He also engages the political and moral issues raised by the idea of a multicultural art history. Focusing on a consideration of intersecting artistic traditions, Carrier negotiates the way meaning and understanding shift or are altered when a visual object from one culture, for example, is inserted into the visual tradition of another culture. A World Art History and Its Objects proposes the use of temporal narrative as a way to begin to understand a multicultural art history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780271034157
Publisher:	Penn State University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2010
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

David Carrier is Champney Family Professor at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art. He is the author of the Penn State titles The Aesthetics of Comics (2000), High Art: Charles Baudelaire and the Origins of Modernist Painting (1996), The Aesthete in the City (1994), Poussin’s Paintings: A Study in Art-Historical Methodology (1993), and Principles of Art History Writing (1990).

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Diagrams ix

Preface xi

Acknowledgments xvii

Introduction xxiii

Overture: Islamic Carpets in European Paintings 1

1 Works of Art and Art-Historical Narratives 21

2 Monocultural Art-History Narratives 27

3 Why Monoculturalism Is Not the Whole Story 35

4 What Happens When Art-Making Traditions Intersect 47

5 Charts and Works of Art 61

6 The Importance of an Aesthetic 75

7 Exotic Aesthetics 91

8 How Exotic Can Exotic Art Be? 105

9 Our World Art History Is Imperialism Seen Aesthetically 117

10 Mutual Respect as an Ethical Ideal 131

Conclusion: The Coming Transformation of Western Art History 143

Selective Annotated Bibliography 155

Index 167

Editorial Reviews

Intriguing, provocative, and informative.”

—John Onians, University of East Anglia

From the Publisher