
Haunted Visions
Spiritualism and American Art
Charles Colbert(Author)
University of Pennsylvania Press
Published on 7. June 2011
Book
Hardback
336 pages
978-0-8122-4325-3 (ISBN)
Description
Spiritualism emerged in western New York in 1848 and soon achieved a wide following due to its claim that the living could commune with the dead. In Haunted Visions: Spiritualism and American Art, Charles Colbert focuses on the ways Spiritualism imbued the making and viewing of art with religious meaning and, in doing so, draws fascinating connections between art and faith in the Victorian age.
Examining the work of such well-known American artists as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, William Sydney Mount, and Robert Henri, Colbert demonstrates that Spiritualism played a critical role in the evolution of modern attitudes toward creativity. He argues that Spiritualism made a singular contribution to the sanctification of art that occurred in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The faith maintained that spiritual energies could reside in objects, and thus works of art could be appreciated not only for what they illustrated but also as vessels of the psychic vibrations their creators impressed into them. Such beliefs sanctified both the making and collecting of art in an era when Darwinism and Positivism were increasingly disenchanting the world and the efforts to represent it. In this context, Spiritualism endowed the artist's profession with the prestige of a religious calling; in doing so, it sought not to replace religion with art, but to make art a site where religion happened.
Examining the work of such well-known American artists as James Abbott McNeill Whistler, William Sydney Mount, and Robert Henri, Colbert demonstrates that Spiritualism played a critical role in the evolution of modern attitudes toward creativity. He argues that Spiritualism made a singular contribution to the sanctification of art that occurred in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The faith maintained that spiritual energies could reside in objects, and thus works of art could be appreciated not only for what they illustrated but also as vessels of the psychic vibrations their creators impressed into them. Such beliefs sanctified both the making and collecting of art in an era when Darwinism and Positivism were increasingly disenchanting the world and the efforts to represent it. In this context, Spiritualism endowed the artist's profession with the prestige of a religious calling; in doing so, it sought not to replace religion with art, but to make art a site where religion happened.
Reviews / Votes
"Charles Colbert offers a welcome examination of the nineteenth-century intersections of American art and Spiritualism. An original and substantial contribution in an area that has long been ripe for this kind of focused scholarly attention." (Leigh Eric Schmidt, Washington University in St. Louis)More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Pennsylvania
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
7 illus.
Dimensions
Height: 226 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
680 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8122-4325-3 (9780812243253)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2011
1st Edition
University of Pennsylvania Press
€73.49
Available for download
Person
Charles Colbert teaches American art history at Portland State University. He is the author of A Measure of Perfection: Phrenology and the Fine Arts in America.
Content
List of Illustrations
Introduction: The History and Teachings of Spiritualism
Chapter 1. Who Speaks for the Dead?
Chapter 2. Reenchanting America
Chapter 3. Revelations by Daylight
Chapter 4. Ghostly Gloamings
Chapter 5. Land of Promise
Chapter 6. Romantic Conjurations
Chapter 7. The Critic as Psychic
Chapter 8. Lessons in Clairvoyance
Postscript
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The History and Teachings of Spiritualism
Chapter 1. Who Speaks for the Dead?
Chapter 2. Reenchanting America
Chapter 3. Revelations by Daylight
Chapter 4. Ghostly Gloamings
Chapter 5. Land of Promise
Chapter 6. Romantic Conjurations
Chapter 7. The Critic as Psychic
Chapter 8. Lessons in Clairvoyance
Postscript
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments