Aesthetics & Philosophy of Art, General & Miscellaneous Art, German Philosophy, Renaissance & Modern Philosophy
Log in to track your reading progress.
Overview
In Aesthetic Legacies, Lucian Krukowski traces the influence of three nineteenth-century theories of art through twentieth-century modernism and into the postmodernist present. Following the theories of Kant, Schopenhauer, and Hegel, Krukowski first discusses how each philosopher locates the aesthetic within the framework of the philosophical system. He then identifies each theory through a dominant theme and traces the transformations of these themes into later thought and practice. The Kantian legacy originates in the theme of beauty and continues through an examination of aesthetic taste into the modernist concern with artistic form. Schopenhauer's legacy moves from the dynamics of will into the themes of creative expression and artistic intentionality. Hegel's identification of art as a symbol of spirit's evolution is traced through the themes of artistic progress and cultural criticism. Krukowski interprets late modernism as a period in which the continuing transformation of aesthetic themes is arrested and congeals into dogma. This precipitates the reaction we now call postmodernism. The author first examines postmodernism through its various rejections of modernist dogma and, in the book's concluding section, evokes the alternative ideologies and practices that characterize present-day art.Editorials
Library Journal
Washington University professor Krukowski ( Art and Concept , LJ 9/15/87) presents the argument that modernism and postmodernism are the legacies of philosophical work by Kant, Schopenhauer, and Hegel, all written nearly 200 years ago. Krukowski's interpretations of the aesthetic theories developed by each of these thinkers are smooth and accessible, and his assessment of the developing nature of aesthetic theory as implemented by them is compelling. Scholars, philosophy students, and art students will all need to read this current work, and it should have much appeal for general readers with any background in modern Western civilization. Recommended for academic libraries.-- Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley P.L., Cal.Book Details
Published
December 1, 1992
Publisher
Philadelphia : Temple University Press, 1992.
Pages
264
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780877229728