Revealing Art

Matthew Kieran0415278538, 9780415278539, 0415278546, 9780415278546

Why does art matter to us, and what makes good art? Why is the role of imagination so important in art? Illustrated with carefully chosen color and black-and-white plates of examples from Michelangelo to Matisse and Poussin to Jackson Pollock, Revealing Art explores some of the most important questions we can ask about art. Matthew Kieran clearly but forcefully asks how art inspires us and disgusts us and whether artistic judgment is simply a matter of taste, and if art can be immoral or obscene, should it be censored? He brings such abstract issues to life with fascinating discussions of individual paintings, photographs and sculptures, such as Michelangelo’s Pietà, Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ and Jackson Pollock’s Summertime. He also suggests some answers to problems that any one in an art gallery or museum is likely to ask themselves: what is a beautiful work of art, and can art really reveal something true about our own nature? Revealing Art is ideal for anyone interested in debates about art today, or who has simply stood in front of a painting and felt baffled.

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Table of contents :
Book Cover……Page 1
Title……Page 4
Contents……Page 5
Illustrations……Page 10
Acknowledgements……Page 12
Introduction……Page 14
Originality and Artistic Expression……Page 19
Beauty Resurrected……Page 60
Insight in Art……Page 112
Art and Morality……Page 161
The Truth in Humanism……Page 218
Notes……Page 269
Bibliography and Suggested Reading……Page 276
Index……Page 286