Writing About Visual Art

For as long as there have been artists creating art, there have been writersreating a running narrative: what does art say about our world?; what doest say about artists?; what does it mean?;This is a comprehensive examinationf the history and practice of writing about art, from simple criticisms toncyclopaedic histories. It seeks to reveal art's importance to the artuseum, the art gallery, and general aesthetic theory.;Paying specialttention to the historical and social frameworks of the writers, the guidetudies the evolution and significance of art writing. With examples takenrom virtually all eras of history, author David Carrier explains how manyndividuals' interpretations of artworks are inspired as much by what haseen written about the work and the artist as by the artwork itself. Heresents an in-depth comparison of the writing of critics against that ofistorians and puts forward a solid defence of the literature of art as aeans for both understanding art and for promoting visual thinking.;The textltimately embraces writing about art not only as a tool for creating an

David Carrier is Champney Family Professor at Case Western Reserve University/Cleveland Institute of Art.