Edgar Wind and Modern Art

Ben Thomas is Reader in History of Art, University of Kent, UK.

• List of IllustrationsPreface and Acknowledgements1. In Defence of Marginal AnarchyEdgar Wind (1900-1971)2. Art and AnarchyThe Polarity of the SymbolHoly FearExperiment and Metaphysics3. The Tradition of Symbols in Modern ArtThe Heritage of BaudelaireHistory of the MonsterPicasso and the Atavism of the MaskReligious and Scientific Fallacies – ‘Our Present Discontents’4. ‘Cher Magus’ – Pavel TchelitchewCathedrals of Art‘You really are a magician…’The Feast of the GodsMonstrous PhenomenaMethod and Microcosm in Leonardo da VinciTchelitchew and Leonardo5. ‘The Muses’ sterner laws’ – W. H. Auden and Ben ShahnThe IrresponsiblesThe Critical Nature of a Work of ArtMasterpieces of the Twentieth CenturyKlee and CandideSeven Moral PaintingsArt and MoralsThe Truest Poetry is the Most FeigningThe Shape of Content6. ‘Certain Forms of Association Neglected Before’ - R. B. KitajThe Fallacy of Pure ArtThe Book as SymbolRosa Luxemburg as PathosformelWarburg as Maenad – the reconciliation of oppositesIf Not, NotConclusionSelect BibliographyIndex

In this absorbing book, a revered art historian who specialised in the Renaissance is given a new lease of life. Edgar Wind believed that creative art and criticism are not fundamentally distinct, and Ben Thomas convincingly brings out the relevance of his thinking to a range of major twentieth century artists including Paul Klee, Ben Shahn and R.B. Kitaj.