Understanding Art Objects
Thinking Through the Eye
Published on 28. October 2009
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-1-84822-016-4 (ISBN)
Description
What can an art object tell us about its meaning today and at its execution? Can we 'read' artefacts to find out why they were made and for whom? What do they reveal about their context and how has their value changed over the years? Understanding Art Objects presents thirteen essays written by teachers and consultants at Sotheby's Institute addressing these exact questions.
Each essay focuses on a single work, ranging from the 1st-century Jenkins Venus to Teresa Margolles' 127 Cuerpos, demonstrating Sotheby's theory of object-based learning in action. The contributors ask their readers to approach an artwork by looking at the work and identifying what is particular to it, and then assessing how it compares with other objects and what its condition tells us about its history. Only then is the discussion widened to consider the object's significance in an art-historical narrative.
The texts are all written to appeal not just to the scholar, the professional and the connoisseur interested in evaluating art but to anyone curious as to what objects mean and represent. This collection of essays offers lively and insightful comments on a perpetually topical field, and as such is an invaluable learning resource.
Each essay focuses on a single work, ranging from the 1st-century Jenkins Venus to Teresa Margolles' 127 Cuerpos, demonstrating Sotheby's theory of object-based learning in action. The contributors ask their readers to approach an artwork by looking at the work and identifying what is particular to it, and then assessing how it compares with other objects and what its condition tells us about its history. Only then is the discussion widened to consider the object's significance in an art-historical narrative.
The texts are all written to appeal not just to the scholar, the professional and the connoisseur interested in evaluating art but to anyone curious as to what objects mean and represent. This collection of essays offers lively and insightful comments on a perpetually topical field, and as such is an invaluable learning resource.
Reviews / Votes
'Understanding Art Objects is a beautifully illustrated book. It is particularly beneficial for students and young collectors but accessible to anyone with an interest in the valuation and analysis of artworks.' The Art BookMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
Laminated cover
Dimensions
Height: 271 mm
Width: 233 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
1142 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84822-016-4 (9781848220164)
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
Persons
Tony Godfrey is Director of Research at Sotheby's Institute and Programme Director of the MA in Contemporary Art at Sotheby's Institute, Singapore.
Content
Contents: Introduction: What, Where and When: How and Why we Look at Works of Art, Tony Godfrey; Section I: What?; John Singleton Copley's Miniature Self-Portrait and Portrait of Moses Gill, Carrie Rebora Barratt; The Countess of Dysart's Backstools, Megan Aldrich; What's in a Box? The Many Layers of a Seventeenth-Century Lacquer Casket, Julia Hutt; Joseph Kosuth's One and Three Chairs, 1965, Eugene Tan; David Reed: No. 286-2 1990-2, Tony Godfrey; Section II: Where?; A L'Enseigne de Gersaint by Jean-Antoine Watteau - From Shop Sign to Masterpiece, Catherine Morel; Kabuto with Symbolic Tower and Kazari: Displaying the Decorative in Edo Japan, James Malpas; The Eroticised Victorian Child: Mrs Holford's Daughter, Juliet Hacking; 127 Cuerpos: Teresa Margolles and the Aesthetics of Commemoration, Anthony Downey; Section III: When?; The Jenkins Venus: Reception in the Art World and the Market, David Bellingham; On the Wings of a Dove: Jacob Epstein's Doves - Third Version, 1914-15, Bernard Vere; Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chair: A Design Icon of the 1920s, Elisabeth Darby; Gerhard Richter's Tante Marianne Revisited, Anna Moszynska; Bibliography; Index.