The life of forms in art : modernism, organism, vitality / Brandon Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Brandon, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Form (Aesthetics).

Modern art--20th century--History.

Modern art.

Modern art--21st century--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 253 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates) : $b illustrations (black and white, and color)

Edition:

First edition.

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London [England] : Bloomsbury Visual Arts, 2020.

Summary:

"What is form in modern art? How could a work of art achieve its organic life in a world increasingly dominated by mechanism, by new technology? In this new book, Brandon Taylor proposes that biology and the life sciences themselves supplied many of the analogies and metaphors by which modern artists were guided. For the creative giants of the period - Picasso, Miró, Kandinsky, Strzeminski, Dalí, Arp, Motherwell and Pollock, as well as less-known figures such as Taeuber, Erni and Kobro - questions of 'living' form loomed large in studio conversation, in the press, and in the writings of the artists themselves. In a book rich in new research and fresh thinking, a well-known art historian proposes six modalities of organic and vital life that pervade the radical experiments of modern art: the organic , the biomorphic , the ambiguous , the monstrous , the dialectical , and the liquid."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

List of plates

List of figures

Prelude: On Life and Form

1. Organicity

2. Biomorphism

3. Ambiguity

4. Monstrosity

5. Dialectics

6. Liquifaction Coda

Acknowledgements

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781501353932

1501353934

9781501353949

1501353942

9781501353925

1501353926

OCLC:

1183963725