Scoundrels, Cads, and Other Great Artists

Jeffrey K. Smith holds a chaired professorship at the University of Otago in New Zealand. He serves as Dean of the College of Education at the University. Prior to Otago, he was Professor and Chair of the Educational Psychology Department at Rutgers University, where he had been a faculty member for twenty-nine years. His AB is from Princeton University and his PhD is from the University of Chicago. From 1988 through 2005, he also founded and served as Head of the Office of Research and Evaluation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. He studies issues in the psychology of aesthetics, learning in cultural institutions, and educational assessment.

• DedicationAcknowledgementsPrefaceList of Figures 1. Introduction: The Rogues’ Gallery2. Caravaggio: A Life in Chiaroscuro3. Courbet: The Most Arrogant Man in the World4. Whistler: Peacock Pugnacious5. Gentileschi: A Woman for All Seasons6. Remington: The Cowboy from New Rochelle7. Schiele: Moth to the Flame8. Yoshitoshi: Holding Back the Night9. Pollock/Krasner: Collision CourseConclusion: Searching for Scoundrels (and Other Great Artists)

As an educator and aesthetics psychologist who spent 17 years as head of the Office of Research and Evaluation at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smith (now at Univ. of Otago, New Zealand) has had ample experience observing the ways in which people respond to works of art and the artists who created them. Although not appropriate for the advanced study of art history, Smith's book is the perfect vehicle to inspire undergraduates to become engaged with the works of the nine artists Smith addresses. All the artists were chosen because of their unusual and, often, disappointing and outrageous behavior; the author included Artemisia Gentileschi among the nine because of the extreme difficulties she encountered with many of those in her life. The book is well organized. Each chapter includes a section titled “Closer Look,” in which the author explores one work by the artist in detail; boxes offering descriptions of art terms and styles; detailed biographical information; and a conclusion about what the artist contributed to the history of art. This thoroughly engaging and often humorous book offers significant knowledge about these artists' works, the interrelation of their challenging personalities and their art, and contextual information about the times in which they worked. Highly recommended.