Modern Art and the Life of a Culture – The Religious Impulses of Modernism

Essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between biblical revelation and modern art. --David McKay, The Covenanter Witness, February 2018 In Modern Art and the Life of a Culture (2016), Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness also rewrite modernist history, but from a Protestant theological perspective, arguing 'that the crises and labors of modernist art were, among other things, theological crises and labors.' Dig around in art, and we find religion. Dig around in religion, and we find art. --S. Brent Plate, Los Angeles Review of Books, January 24, 2017 In seven chapters, artist/art critic Jonathan Anderson and noted cultural theologian William Dyrness offer a compelling counter-narrative to Hans Rookmaaker's provocative and highly influential Modern Art and the Death of a Culture. . . . This volume is indispensible not only for Christians seeking to be faithful participants in the contemporary art world (artists, curators, critics, etc.) but anyone desiring a fascinating account of the omission of religious sources feeding modern art. Indeed, by taking modern art on its own terms, the authors have demonstrated convincingly that the standard story of modern art as a purveyor of secularism is untenable, making it impossible ever to view modern art the same way. --Bob Cavolo, SEEN/CIVA, XVI:2 2016 In this compelling collaboration between an artist and a theologian, Jonathan A. Anderson and William A. Dyrness begin a conversation about how Christian artists, critics, enthusiasts and theologians can reclaim and rediscover modern art, identifying and celebrating its religious and spiritual impulses. --Jon J. Marlow, Transpositions, Spring 2017 Just what should Christians think of modern art? Is it void of all religious impulses and persuasions? Or is there a deeper vision often left unexplored? Rather than writing off the last century and a half of visual art as purely secular, Anderson and Dyrness meticulously detail the patterns of piety and spirituality that both influenced and empowered artists like van Gogh, Gauguin, Kandinsky, and Warhol. --Wade Bearden, Christianity Today, The 2017 Book Awards This book is highly recommended as a valuable resource for both theology and art libraries, and as advanced reading for those engaged in similar conversations. --Ryan Stander, Horizons This book signals an important mid-course correction in evangelical scholarship about modern art and it should become a staple textbook in college and seminary classes. --Gregory Wolfe, Image Journal, October 2016 While the treatment of Rookmaaker will be of particular interest to Protestant readers, the reassessment of modern arts' perceived secularity extends its relevancy across the church and into art history as well. Thus, this book is highly recommended as a valuable resource for both theology and art libraries, and as advanced reading for those engaged in similar conversations. --Ryan Stander, Horizons, June 2017