Modern And Primitive Art

Return to the elemental - Search for the primitive - Abstraction and empathy - Picasso and Negro Art - Matisse or Vlaminck - Problems of form - Exchange of techniques - Exotic attraction of distant lands - Primitive art and German Expressionism - Surrealism and the art of the South Sea Islands.

This now classic study maps the profound effect of primitive art on modern, as well as the primitivizing strain in modern art itself. Robert Goldwater describes how and why works by primitive artists attracted modern painters and sculptors, and he delineates the differences between what is truly primitive or archaic and what intentionally embodies such elements. His analysis distinguishes the romanticism of Gauguin; an emotional primitivism exemplified by the Brücke and Blaue Reiter groups in Germany; the intellectual primitivism of Picasso and Modigliani; and a “primitivism of the subconscious” in Miró, Klee, and Dali. Two of Goldwater's related essays—“Judgments of Primitive Art, 1905–1965” and “Art History and Anthropology”—have been added for this new paperback edition.

A fascination with the "primitive" lies at the heart of some of the most influential developments in Western art produced between 1890 and 1950 - a time that witnessed both the "heroic" period of modern art and the apogee and decline of the West's colonial power. Many groups have a times been labeled as primitive, including the so-called tribal peoples from Africa, Oceania and North America, but also prehistoric cultures, European peasants, the insane and children. Through the lens of their own society, many modern artists looked both to the art and to the world-view of the primitive as a means of challenging established beliefs, but the primitive to which they turned was as varied as the movements in modern art of which they were a part. Colin Rhodes breaks new ground, drawing on a wide and diverse range of material, from high art to popular entertainment, from Darwin to Freud; the critical overview he presents supersedes all previous studies on the subject. 179 illus., 28 in color.

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Mystique of Connoisseurship2. The Universality Principle3. The Night Side of Man4. Anonymity and Timelessness5. Power Plays6. Objets d'Art and Ethnographic Artifacts7. From Signature to Pedigree8. A Case in PointAfterwordNotesReferences CitedIllustration Credits Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

"This is a much needed, important collection-a goldmine of sources for scholars and students. The texts articulate the key Primitivist aesthetic discourses of the period, offering crucial insight into the complex and always changing nexus between culture, politics, and representation. Because of the breadth of the materials covered and the controversies they raise, this anthology is one of the all too rare volumes that not only will provide reference materials for years to come but also will feature centrally in classroom discussions."—Suzanne Preston Blier, author of African Vodun: Art, Psychology, and Power "For almost a century art historians have fretted about the notion of primitivism in the arts. This comprehensive-in both senses of the word-anthology is a peerless source of the history of responses to works categorized as 'primitive.' In its range, the book touches upon all the troubling questions-formal, anthropological, political, historical-that have bedeviled the study of the arts of Oceania, Africa, and North and South America, and provides the grounds, at last, for intelligent pursuit of keener distinctions. I regard this book as a superb contribution to the study of Modern art; in fact, indispensable."—Dore Ashton, author of Noguchi East and West "An extraordinarily useful and complete collection of primary documents, many translated for the first time into English, and almost all unlikely to be encountered elsewhere without serious effort. Its five sections, each with a lively and scholarly introduction, reveal the diverse views of artists and writers on primitive art from Matisse, Picasso, and Fry to many far less known and sometimes surprising figures. The book also uncovers the politics and aesthetics of the major museum exhibitions that gained acceptance for art that had been both reviled and mythologized. Recent texts included are all germane. This book will be invaluable for any college course on the topic."—Shelly Errington, author of The Death of Authentic Primitive Art and Other Tales of Progress "An exceptionally valuable anthology of seventy documents--most heretofore unavailable in English--on the ongoing controversies surrounding Primitivism and Modern art. Insightfully chosen and annotated, the collection is brilliantly introduced by Jack Flam's essay on the historical progression, contexts, and cultural complexities of more than one hundred years' ideas about Primitivism. Rich, timely, illuminating."—Herbert M. Cole, author of Icons: Ideals and Power in the Art of Africa

This lavishly illustrated two-volume set has been heralded as "a landmark publication", and "one of the most important latter-day additions to any serious library of modern art". 350 color and 690 black-and-white illustrations.

In this acclaimed book, Torgovnick explores the obsessions, fears, and longings that have produced Western views of the primitive. Crossing an extraordinary range of fields (anthropology, psychology, literature, art, and popular culture),Gone Primitivewill engage not just specialists but anyone who has ever worn Native American jewelry, thrilled to Indiana Jones, or considered buying an African mask. "A superb book; and--in a way that goes beyond what being good as a book usually implies--it is a kind of gift to its own culture, a guide to the perplexed. It is lucid, usually fair, laced with a certain feminist mockery and animated by some surprising sympathies."--Arthur C. Danto, New York Times Book Review "An impassioned exploration of the deep waters beneath Western primitivism. . . . Torgovnick's readings are deliberately, rewardingly provocative."--Scott L. Malcomson,Voice Literary Supplement