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FREE PICTURES OF NOTHING: ABSTRACT ART SINCE POLLOCK PDF Kirk Varnedoe,Earl A. Powell,Adam Gopnik | 320 pages | 29 Oct 2006 | Princeton University Press | 9780691126784 | English | New Jersey, United States Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock by Kirk Varnedoe What's the use--for us as individuals, or for any society--of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock seem to show anything except themselves? Search for the book on E-ZBorrow. E-ZBorrow is the easiest and fastest way to get the book you want ebooks unavailable. Use ILLiad for articles and chapter scans. You can also use ILLiad to request chapter scans and articles. Phrase Searching You can use double quotes to search for a series of words in a particular order. Wildcard Searching If you want to search for multiple variations of a word, you can substitute a special symbol called a "wildcard" for one or more letters. You can use? Advanced Searching Our Advanced Search tool lets you easily search multiple fields at the same time and combine terms in Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock ways. See the help page for more details. Want to get more out of the basic search box? Read about Search Operators for some powerful new tools. Series: Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock. Mellon lectures in the fine arts ; Bollingen series ; He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock Illusion, another landmark A. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring ofjust months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction--showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour of a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works. Published: Ask Us: Live Chat. Varnedoe, Kirk, National Gallery of Art U. Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record! Pictures of Nothing | Princeton University Press He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusionanother landmark A. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and as the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring ofjust months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. Pictures of Nothingbased on a series of lectures that Mr. Varnedoe gave at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, is a book that everyone with a serious interest in modern art will want to read, and it has the additional merit of being well-written and excellently illustrated. The art historian. Why abstraction? Look here for an answer. Through his descriptions, bare, arbitrary or seemingly interchangeable works start to bristle with distinctiveness. His vision of America's abstract half-century in Pictures of Nothing is. Varnedoe's lectures reveal the positive role of abstract art in modern cultural life. Varnedoe insists; abstract art is difficult, it takes practice to understand, and if it is governed by rules Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock appear arbitrary, that only makes it like every other cultural practice. Siedell, Christian Today. He wanted to insist that any art worth looking at had, at least, many stories to tell. With humor and candor, Varnedoe illuminates the meaning behind nonrepresentational works of the past 50 years—the contradictory intentions of Josef Albers's and Carl Andre's shared geometry or the minute artistic details of Robert Smithson's massive Spiral Jetty. To those who would say that abstract art is a classic case of the emperor's new Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock, he simply says that it has been around for more than a century and that is proof enough of its efficacy. What he wants is not to validate what artists have been doing all this time but, rather, to find cogent ways of talking about it and, hence, a deeper understanding. What this wonderful book shows is that although the original motivations behind abstract art were puritanical, crypto-religious or collectivist, it has flourished as a series of secular, diverse, individualistic, private visions. Society thrives, Varnedoe bravely suggests, when it gives free play to these visions, even those that initially seem absurd, banal or hermetic. Varnedoe's analysis of abstraction, using specific works, helps make sense of various approaches to non-representational art. Sozanski, Journal Sentinel Online. Danto, ArtNews. Erudite in all the best ways, this book is also deeply human, born of love for the experience of art. Highly recommended. It is in the analysis of specific works of art or bodies of work by a specific artist that Varnedoe shines, reflecting his long career of intimate study of art objects. He is commenting on some of the most challenging of Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock, the likes of Richard Serra, Cy Twombly, Jasper Johns, and other innovators in abstraction of various kinds. Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock are some truly refreshing moments where Varnedoe has the courage of his convictions and explains why one artist of merit should receive more of our attention than another artist of merit-in effect, distinguishing between greater and lesser merit, rather than just good or bad. Listen to our first episode. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts. Overview Author s Reviews From to he was chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Bollingen: Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock (Hardcover) - - See what's new with book lending at the Internet Archive. Better World Books. Uploaded by station Search icon An illustration of a magnifying glass. User icon An illustration of a person's head and chest. Sign up Log in. Web icon An illustration of a computer application window Wayback Machine Texts icon An illustration of an open book. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3. Software Images icon An illustration of two photographs. Images Donate icon An illustration of a heart shape Donate Ellipses Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock An illustration of text ellipses. Pictures of nothing : abstract art since Pollock Item Preview. EMBED for wordpress. Want more? Advanced embedding details, examples, and help! What's the use--for us as individuals, or for any society--of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves? He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusion, another landmark A. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock faith in modern art and the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring ofjust months before his death. With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction--showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art Since Pollock about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour of a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works. There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write a review. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books..