Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism | Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, ...

Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism | Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, ... | OCTOBER Crew Gets Its Due

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	Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, ... Thames & Hudson, 2005 - 688 pages average customer review:based on 22 reviews view larger image
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Read this book. It will improve your mind.

Although I have read only the first half of "Art Since 1900," I feel compelled by the negative comments offered by other readers to express my considerable admiration for this book. Because I am not an academic or other art world insider, I have no axe to grind regarding which artists or movements may be under or over-represented in the text. After reading a number of books on modern art, I have found this one to be, on the whole, head and shoulders above the rest. For example, "The Shock of the New" by Robert Hughes is a fine book, but it is very superficial by comparison with this one. What impresses me most about "Art Since 1900" is the incorporation of ideas from other disciplines dealing with modernity, including philosophy, psychology, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, and literary theory, which provides a broader context for the subject than is usually presented in art history texts. For the benefit of those who are not already familiar with the intellectual history of the twentieth century, the authors include four introductory chapters and a glossary that help to familiarize readers with concepts of marxism, critical theory, psychoanalysis, formalism, structuralism, post-structuralism, and postmodernism. While the introductory chapters are not a substitute for wider reading on those topics, the authors succeed very admirably in making "highbrow" ideas accessible to "middlebrow" readers. But it is not necessary to master the contents of the introductory chapters in order to obtain a great deal of benefit from the remainder of the book. Each of the nearly 100 short chapters is, by itself, a polished gem that offers much food for thought, so that it is possible to approach the book by reading one chapter at a time and meditating on the ideas presented there for a while before returning to the text. In fact, such an approach may serve to resist the unconscious desire to oversimplify the great multiplicity of works and ideas that constitute modern art. While fragmentation is consistent with the postmodern attitude of the authors toward the subject matter, comprehension by others is facilitated by supplementing the chronological ordering of chapters with an inter-textual system of cross-referencing by artist and movement. Unlike more conventional art history texts, this book can provide readers with a greater appreciation of the capacity of modern art to provoke the kind of critical thinking that liberates the mind. What could be more useful in a society that is so thoroughly dominated by conformity and anti-intellectualism? If all Americans would read this book, the White House might never again be occupied by an ignoramous.

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OCTOBER Crew Gets Its Due

Locating criticality as an ongoing extension of modernism has been a continuing subtext for many of the writings that inform the thinking contained in this volume. What at one time appeared radically transgressive in its disciplinary attacks has now been thoroughly institutionalized under the weight of a mainstream publisher. Nevertheless, there is merit to be had -- especially among the uninitiated and unsuspecting -- in masticating the morsels of tamed academicized theory. Prepare yourselves for what will prove to be an indispensible resource for understanding how our current cultural moment is inflected by changing conceptions of the past. This text is a much needed stimulus for hard thinking . . .

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Good text, but...

An interesting textbook overall but doesn't do much in going beyond the usual OCTOBER brand of art history. If you want to read something else, don't expect to use their supplemental bibliographies because it will only take you to their student's work.

What is "October"?

I'm interested in this book, but all the critical comments give me pause. What is "October"? It seems that these authors are perceived as powerful/dominant. Why? (Please disregard the 3-star rating I gave; Amazon's system required me to rate the book.)

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5

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