Jason Gaiger – författare

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

Jason Gaiger explores the evolution of aesthetics in the German philosophical tradition from the mid eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. Focusing on figures such as Lessing, Herder, Kant, Schiller, and Hegel, he examines how their ideas about art, nature, and imagination continue to shape aesthetic thought today. Rather than offering a straightforward history, however, the book unfolds as a series of close philosophical analyses that trace a 'thread of recognition' linking diverse and sometimes conflicting understandings of aesthetic experience. Central themes include the interplay of perception and reason, the delimitation of artistic media, the tension between imagination and representation, the unity and indeterminacy of landscape, the temporality of pictorial and sculptural viewing, and the moral and cognitive significance of natural beauty.The discussion brings historical debates into dialogue with recent developments in art theory, environmental aesthetics, and naturalism. Rejecting both purely historical and decontextualized approaches, the book combines careful attention to the conceptual structure of original contexts with a sustained analysis of their relevance to contemporary philosophical and aesthetic inquiry. The study challenges the reduction of aesthetics to a narrow concern with formal properties, recovering instead its cognitive, emotional, and moral depth. The result is a critical re-articulation of the German aesthetic tradition as a living conversation between past and present, illuminating the continuing philosophical significance of art and aesthetic experience.

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 book presents an engaging and sophisticated look at the debates and ideas involved in the aesthetics of painting - part of a major new series from Continuum's philosophy list."Aesthetics and Painting" introduces and opens up current debates and ideas in the aesthetics of painting. At the book's centre is an investigation of the complex relationship between what a painting depicts and the means by which it is depicted. The book looks at: how and why pictorial representation can be distinguished from other forms of representation; the relationship between the painted surface and the depicted subject; the 'rules of representation' specific to painting; abstract art and non-representational painting; painting as an historically reflexive and self-critical practice; the most recent technological and aesthetic developments and their implications; and, the contemporary challenges to painting. A sophisticated treatment of major ideas in art and philosophy, "Aesthetics and Painting" remains highly readable throughout, offering a clear and coherent account of the nature of painting as an art form."The Continuum Aesthetics Series" looks at the aesthetic questions and issues raised by all major art forms. Stimulating, engaging and accessible, the series offers food for thought not only for students of aesthetics, but also for anyone with an interest in philosophy and the arts.

What can philosophy reveal about painting and how might it deepen our understanding of this enduring art form? Philosophy of Painting investigates the complex relationship between the painted surface and the depicted subject, opening up current debates to address questions concerning the historicality of art. Embracing contemporary painting, it examines topics such as the post-medium condition and the digital divide, and the work of artists such as Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Amy Sillman and Katharina Grosse.Illustrated with 24 colour plates and highly readable throughout, Philosophy of Painting provides a philosophically rigorous defence of the relevance of painting in the 21st century, making an original contribution to the major ideas informing painting as an art. Here is a clear and coherent account of the contemporary significance of painting and the pressures and possibilities that distinguish it from other art forms.