Edgar Wind and Modern Art

In Defence of Marginal Anarchy

Ben Thomas (University of Kent, UK)

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English

Bloomsbury Visual Arts
25 August 2022

Theory of art; Art & design styles: Postmodernism; Individual artists, art monographs

This book presents the first comprehensive study of the philosopher and art historian Edgar Wind’s critique of modern art. The first student of Erwin Panofsky, and a close associate of Aby Warburg, Edgar Wind was unusual among the ‘Warburgians’ for his sustained interest in modern art, together with his support for contemporary artists. This culminated in his respected and influential book Art and Anarchy (1963), which seemed like a departure from his usual scholarly work on the iconography of Renaissance art.

Based on extensive archival research and bringing to light previously unpublished lectures, Edgar Wind and Modern Art reveals the extent and seriousness of Wind’s thinking about modern art, and how it was bound up with theories about art and knowledge that he had developed during the 1920s and 30s. Wind’s ideas are placed in the context of a closely connected international cultural milieu consisting of some of the leading artists and thinkers of the twentieth century. In particular, the book discusses in detail his friendships with three significant artists: Pavel Tchelitchew, Ben Shahn and R. B. Kitaj. In the process, the existence of an alternative to the prevailing formalist approach of Alfred Barr and Clement Greenberg to modern art, based on the enduring importance of the symbol, is revealed.

By: Ben Thomas (University of Kent UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350284272
ISBN 10: 1350284270
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 25 August 2022
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

List of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements 1. In Defence of Marginal Anarchy Edgar Wind (1900-1971) 2. Art and Anarchy The Polarity of the Symbol Holy Fear Experiment and Metaphysics 3. The Tradition of Symbols in Modern Art The Heritage of Baudelaire History of the Monster Picasso and the Atavism of the Mask Religious and Scientific Fallacies – ‘Our Present Discontents’ 4. ‘Cher Magus’ – Pavel Tchelitchew Cathedrals of Art ‘You really are a magician…’ The Feast of the Gods Monstrous Phenomena Method and Microcosm in Leonardo da Vinci Tchelitchew and Leonardo 5. ‘The Muses’ sterner laws’ – W. H. Auden and Ben Shahn The Irresponsibles The Critical Nature of a Work of Art Masterpieces of the Twentieth Century Klee and Candide Seven Moral Paintings Art and Morals The Truest Poetry is the Most Feigning The Shape of Content 6. ‘Certain Forms of Association Neglected Before’ - R. B. Kitaj The Fallacy of Pure Art The Book as Symbol Rosa Luxemburg as Pathosformel Warburg as Maenad – the reconciliation of opposites If Not, Not Conclusion Select Bibliography Index

Ben Thomas is Reader in History of Art, University of Kent, UK.

Reviews for Edgar Wind and Modern Art: In Defence of Marginal Anarchy

In this absorbing book, a revered art historian who specialised in the Renaissance is given a new lease of life. Edgar Wind believed that creative art and criticism are not fundamentally distinct, and Ben Thomas convincingly brings out the relevance of his thinking to a range of major twentieth century artists including Paul Klee, Ben Shahn and R.B. Kitaj. * Stephen Bann, Emeritus Professor of History of Art, Bristol University, UK * In a magisterial study, Ben Thomas draws out the significance of an under-examined phase in the life of Edgar Wind (1900-1971), philosopher and art historian, a brilliant member of the circle around Aby Warburg in Weimar-era Hamburg. As Thomas reconstructs and situates Wind's work on 'the tradition of symbols', he opens up fresh means for approaching artistic developments typically viewed through the lens of formalism. * Elizabeth Sears, George H. Forsyth Jr. Collegiate Professor of the History of Art, University of Michigan, USA * Surprisingly this is the first comprehensive study of Wind's critique of modern art. A rich and timely undertaking. * Leonardo Reviews *