Charles Harrison – författare

Art in Theory 1815-1900 provides the most wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents ever assembled on nineteenth-century theories of art.

At once engaging, personal, and analytical, this book provides the intellectual resources for the critical understanding of artCharles Harrison’s landmark book offers an original, clear, and wide-ranging introduction to the arts of painting and sculpture, to the principal artistic print media, and to the visual arts of modernism and post-modernism. Covering the entire history of art, from Paleolithic cave painting to contemporary art, it provides foundational guidance on the basic character and techniques of the different art forms, on the various genres of painting in the Western tradition, and on the techniques of sculpture as they have been practiced over several millennia and across a wide range of cultures. Throughout the book, Harrison discusses the relative priorities of aesthetic appreciation and historical inquiry, and the importance of combining the two approaches. Written in a style that is at once graceful, engaging, and personal, as well as analytical and exact, this illuminating book offers an impassioned and timely defense of the importance and value of the firsthand encounter with works of art, whether in museums or in their original locations.

Art in Theory (1648-1815) provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive collection of documents on the theory of art from the founding of the French Academy until the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Like its highly successful companion volumes, Art in Theory (1815-1900) and Art in Theory (1900-1990), its' primary aim is to provide students and teachers with the documentary material for informed and up-to-date study. Its' 240 texts, clear principles of organization and considerable editorial content offer a vivid and indispensable introduction to the art of the early modern period. Harrison, Wood and Gaiger have collected writing by artists, critics, philosophers, literary figures and administrators of the arts, some reprinted in their entirety, others excerpted from longer works. A wealth of material from French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Latin sources is also provided, including many new translations. Among the major themes treated are early arguments over the relative merits of ancient and modern art, debates between the advocates of form and color, the beginnings of modern art criticism in reviews of the Salon, art and politics during the French Revolution, the rise of landscape painting, and the artistic theories of Romanticism and Neo-classicism. Each section is prefaced by an essay that situates the ideas of the period in their historical context, while relating theoretical concerns and debates to developments in the practice of art. Each individual text is also accompanied by a short introduction. An extensive bibliography and full index are provided. For more details of our book and journal list in Art, visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/arttheory

This popular anthology of twentieth-century art theoretical texts has now been expanded to take account of new research, and to include significant contributions to art theory from the 1990s. New edition of this popular anthology of twentieth-century art-theoretical texts.Now updated to include the results of new research, together with significant contributions from the 1990s.Includes writings by critics, philosophers, politicians and literary figures.The editors provide contextual introductions to 340 texts.Complements Art in Theory 1648-1815 and Art in Theory 1815-1900 to create a complete survey of the theories underpinning the development of art in the modern period.

Early in the nineteenth century, an army colonel stood before a crowd at the Salem County Courthouse and ate buckets of tomatoes to prove that they were not poisonous. Ever since, the red vegetable of summer has played a starring role in New Jersey’s history.  Although today visitors to the state are more likely to see smoke-spewing factories than acres of farmland or grazing cattle, the state’s legacy of agriculture and farming continues, and extends far beyond the popular Jersey tomato.In Tending the Garden State, Charles Harrison tells the story of the state’s rich agricultural history from the time when Leni-Lenape Indians scratched the earth with primitive tools up through today.  He recalls New Jersey’s rural past, traces the evolution of farming over the course of the twentieth century, and explains innovative approaches to protecting the industry.Drawing on interviews with farmers, as well as researchers, professional planners, designers, and architects, Harrison discovers that despite the discouraging spread of suburban sprawl, the Garden State’s farming legacy is not as endangered as it may seem.  Many residents care deeply about preserving New Jersey’s agricultural industry and are making great strides to keep the tradition alive for future generations. Some of these protective measures include new laws that encourage the conservation of land and research devoted to helping farmers make the most of their limited acreage.  Innovative techniques such as high-tunnel farming, together with the growth of some very profitable farm specializations, such as turf grass, aquaculture, horticulture, and wine making, will enable farmers to remain active and successful in the state’s oldest industry.Anyone interested in New Jersey’s history or, more broadly, in the history of American agriculture, will be delighted by Harrison’s engaging and readable account of farming in the Garden State.

A ground-breaking new anthology in the Art in Theory series, offering an examination of the changing relationships between the West and the wider world in the field of art and material cultureArt in Theory: The West in the World is a ground-breaking anthology that comprehensively examines the relationship of Western art to the art and material culture of the wider world. Editors Paul Wood and Leon Wainwright have included 370 texts, some of which appear in English for the first time.The anthologized texts are presented in eight chronological parts, which are then subdivided into key themes appropriate to each historical era. The majority of the texts are representations of changing ideas about the cultures of the world by European artists and intellectuals, but increasingly, as the modern period develops, and especially as colonialism is challenged, a variety of dissenting voices begin to claim their space, and a counter narrative to western hegemony develops. Over half the book is devoted to 20th and 21st century materials, though the book’s unique selling point is the way it relates the modern globalization of art to much longer cultural histories.As well as the anthologized material, Art in Theory: The West in the World contains: A general introduction discussing the scope of the collectionIntroductory essays to each of the eight parts, outlining the main themes in their historical contextsIndividual introductions to each text, explaining how they relate to the wider theoretical and political currents of their timeIntended for a wide audience, the book is essential reading for students on courses in art and art history. It will also be useful to specialists in the field of art history and readers with a general interest in the culture and politics of the modern world.

Modern Art and Modernism offers first-hand material for the study of issues central to the development of modern art, its theory and criticism. The history of modern art is not simply a history of works of art, it is also a history of ideas and interpretations. The works of critics and theorists have not merely been influential in deciding how modern art is to be seen and understood, they have also influenced the course it has taken. The nature of modern art cannot be understood without some analysis of the concept of Modernism itself.

Modern Art and Modernism presents a selection of texts by the major contributors to debate on this subject, from Baudelaire to Zola in the 19th century to Greenburg and T J Clark on our own times. It offers a balanced selection of essays by contributors to the mainstream of Modernist criticism, representative examples of writing on the themes of abstraction and expressionism in modern art, and a number of important contributions to the discussion of aesthetics and the social role of the artist.