Elinor Shaffer
Erewhons of the Eye
Samuel Butler
as painter, photographer and art critic
London 1988
Stron 356, format: 16x24 cm
160 czarno-białych i 20 kolorowych ilustracji
Książka jest nowa
A witty, often sardonic, debunker of Victorian values, Samuel Butler (1835 —1902) has long been recognized as a formidable novelist. But the interests and energies of the author of Erewhon and The Way of all Flesh ranged far wider than is realised today. This highly original book recovers an almost wholly neglected side of his life, revealing a fascinating picture of Butler as painter, photographer and art critic. Superbly illustrated, it provides a unique opportunity to discover the striking variety of Butler's work; along with over 90 photographs — nearly all of which are reproduced here for the first time — his paintings, drawings, and watercolours, in conjunction with his critical writings, explain how this remarkable author made a substantial contribution both to the practice and criticism of the visual arts.
Refusing his destined career in the church, Butler attended art school in London, and went on to exhibit at the Royal Academy. Nevertheless, gradual disillusionment with academic training and his conviction that art was in decline kept him creatively at odds with almost the whole of the Victorian establishment. Increasingly, this led him to Italy, and in Alps and Sanctuaries and Ex Voto, by incorporating his own drawings, paintings and photographs, he found a new form for his critical writings, through which he championed the unexplored art of Northern Italy, and such neglected Renaissance artists as Gaudenzio Ferrari. Like Ruskin and Pater, he contributed to the shaping of a distinctive art criticism in England.
In photography, Butler found at last his most congenial expression as a visual artist. He used it for humorous and grotesque portraits of people and animals, street-scenes, buildings, and the landscapes of his travels. The comic and ironic deflation of 'high art' in these photographs, as in his painting and writings, offers a vital link to the art and criticism of our own time.
Over 180 illustrations, 2.0 in full colour
Contents
Preface vii
Introduction xi
chapter one 'Wild and Tame Eyesight': Butler's career as a painter 3
chapter Two Resighting the Renaissance in Italy: Alps and Sanctuaries, Ex Voto, and
Verdi Prati 67
chapter three Victorian Hellenism and The Authoress of the Odyssey 167
chapter four The Ignorant Eye: Photography and the future 205
appendix Exhibitions of Butler's work 295
Notes 297
Select bibliography 320
List of illustrations 327
Index 332
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