The Present Prospects of Social Art History

Description

The Present Prospects of Social Art History represents a major reconsideration of how art historians analyze works of art and the role that historical factors, both those at the moment when the work was created and when the historian addresses the objects at hand, play in informing their interpretations. Featuring the work of some of the discipline's leading scholars, the volume contains a collection of essays that consider the advantages, limitations, and specific challenges of seeing works of art primarily through a historical perspective. The assembled texts, along with an introduction by the co-editors, demonstrate an array of possible methodological approaches that acknowledge the crucial role of history in the creation, reception, and exhibition of works of art.

Robert Slifkin is an Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, USA. He is the author of The New Monuments and the End of Man: U.S. Sculpture Between War and Peace, 1945-1975 (2019) and Out of Time: Philip Guston and the Refiguration of American Art (2013) and his essays have appeared in journals such as Artforum, Art Bulletin, October, the Oxford Art Journal, and Racquet. Anthony E. Grudin received his PhD in art history from University of California, Berkeley, USA in 2008. He is the author of Warhol's Working Class (2017), and Animal Warhol (forthcoming). His essays have appeared in Oxford Art Journal, October, and Criticism. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, California College of the Arts, and the University of Vermont.