Into the Light of Things: The Art of the Commonplace from Wordsworth to John CageIn this sweeping revision of avant-garde history, John Cage takes his rightful place as Wordsworth's great and final heir. George Leonard traces a direct line back from Cage, Pop, and Conceptual Art through the Futurists to Whitman, Emerson, Ruskin, Carlyle, and Wordsworth, showing how the art of everyday objects, often thought an exclusively contemporary phenomenon, actually began as far back as 1800. In recovering the links between such seemingly disparate figures, Leonard transforms our understanding of modern culture. Selected by the American Library Association's journal, Choice, as "one of the Outstanding Academic Books of the Year" "Leonard's book is a fine example of interdisciplinary studies. He shifts focus persuasively from art theory to literature to religious thought and biography, making his method seem the natural mode of inquiry into culture."—Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "Provocative and illuminating."—Library Journal "Highly stimulating, impassioned."—Publisher's Weekly "A rich and rewarding study written in a clear and accessible style with excellent references and a very useful index. Highly recommended."—Choice |
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Into the Light of Things: The Art of the Commonplace from Wordsworth to John ... George J. Leonard No preview available - 1995 |
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aesthetic Alberti Alison Allan Kaprow American art criticism art object art's Arthur Danto artists artworks artworld audience avant-garde Barzun beauty become Bloom Brillo Boxes Buddhism Cage's called Carlyle Carlyle's Carus century Chicago Coleridge common day commonplace Constable create Cubists culture D. T. Suzuki David Antin Discourses Duchamp Earth Day edited Emerson English essay eyes Futurist genius Harold Harold Bloom Hegel hereafter cited human idea ideal industrial istoria John Cage John Ruskin Kaprow Kuhns later living look M. H. Abrams mind Modern Painters Muir Natural Supernaturalism Natural Supernaturalist never painting paradigm philosophy poems poet poetic poetry praise prose real things religion religious revolution Reynolds Reynolds's Richard Kuhns Ruskin sculpture simple produce Sir Joshua sounds spirit sublime Supernaturalist Suzuki theory Thomas Carlyle Thoreau thought tion transfigure University Press Warhol Western Whitman wonder word Wordsworth writes wrote York Zeuxis