A World Art History And Its Objects

✍ Scribed by David Carrier

• Publisher: Pennsylvania State University Press
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 200
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Is writing a world art history possible? Does the history of art as such even exist outside the Western tradition? Is it possible to consider the history of art in a way that is not fundamentally Eurocentric? In this highly readable and provocative book, David Carrier, a philosopher and art historian, does not attempt to write a world art history himself. Rather, he asks the question of how an art history of all cultures could be written - or whether it is even possible to do so. He also engages the political and moral issues raised by the idea of a multicultural art history. Focusing on a consideration of intersecting artistic traditions, Carrier negotiates the way meaning and understanding shift or are altered when a visual object from one culture, for example, is inserted into the visual tradition of another culture. "A World Art History and Its Objects" proposes the use of temporal narrative as a way to begin to understand a multicultural art history.

✦ Table of Contents

Copyright......Page 5
Contents......Page 8
List of Figures and Diagrams......Page 10
Preface......Page 12
Acknowledgments......Page 18
Introduction......Page 24
Overture: Islamic Carpets in European Paintings......Page 30
1. Works of Art and Art-Historical Narratives......Page 50
2. Monocultural Art-History Narratives......Page 56
3. Why Monoculturalism Is Not the Whole Story......Page 64
4. What Happens When Art-Making Traditions Intersect......Page 76
5. Charts and Works of Art......Page 90
6. The Importance of an Aesthetic......Page 104
7. Exotic Aesthetics......Page 120
8. How Exotic Can Exotic Art Be?......Page 134
9. Our World Art History Is Imperialism Seen Aesthetically......Page 146
10. Mutual Respect as an Ethical Ideal......Page 160
Conclusion: The Coming Transformation of Western Art History......Page 172
Selective Annotated Bibliography......Page 184
Index......Page 196
Back Cover......Page 200