Methodologies of Art

Laurie Schneider Adams

• Contents * 1. What Is Art? * 2. Formalism and Style * 3. Iconography * 4. Contextual Approaches I: Marxism, Orientalism, Colonialism, and Racial Iconography * 5. Contextual Approaches II: Feminism and Gender * 6. Biography and Autobiography * 7. Semiotics I: Structuralism and Post-Structuralism * 8. Semiotics II: Deconstruction * 9. Psychoanalysis I: Freud * 10. Psychoanalysis II: Winnicott and Lacan * 11. Aesthetics and Psychoanalysis: Roger Fry and Roland Barthes

"Right now when art historians, much concerned with theory, are rethinking the political implications of their research, there is no more useful, better-natured introduction to these pressing concerns than Laurie Schneider Adams's now classic volume. Effortlessly erudite, determinedly generous, her book provides a lucid introduction to formalism, iconography, Marxism, feminism, psychoanalysis, and structuralism and post-structuralism with new sections on race, gender, orientalism, and colonialism. Her fast-moving, well-balanced commentary provides an ideal introduction to what will, inevitably, be a productive ongoing debate." --David Carrier, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Institute of Art "A teacher's dream...A far-ranging, generously sympathetic, well-illustrated, and very clear survey of contemporary concerns with theory...Adams's clear, accurate introduction will be a godsend." --Art Journal "Good, clear introduction for students who don't know their Derridas from their derrieres." --ARLIS News Sheet