James Hyde, a practicing painter, boldly revises the concept of space in the European history of art. He presents it as a concept bound to historical circumstance, developing -sometimes contentiously-in philosophy, mathematics and science, and finally emerging in 20th century theorizations of art. Using primary documents, Hyde exposes what many will find surprising-that space only becomes part of the descriptive and analytic apparatus of art and architecture at the turn of the 20th century, not earlier. Hyde examines narratives that have shaped our understanding of the history of art and their explanatory efficacy in the context of the transformations of 13th and 15th century Italian art. He offers insights into the relationship between painting, architecture, icons and narrative pictures, the effects of St. Francis''s miracles on painting and the essential diagrammatical nature of Renaissance perspective. The arrival of space into discussions about art introduces Kant, Leibniz, Apollonaire and Adolf von Hildebrand into the story. Hyde considers how and why artists and historians appropriated space at the end of the 19th century, as well as how space moved from the discourse of Neoclassical sculpture and Cubism to its prominence in discussions of art today. Hyde''s original reading of the definition of space and the cultural forces that shaped it provides a re-envisioning of the foundations of art history and the philosophy of art.

Autorentext
James Hyde is a contemporary painter.

Klappentext

James Hyde, a practicing painter, presents a radical and historically detailed investigation into how the concept of pictorial space in art emerged.

Using primary documents and a selection of images, Hyde exposes what many will find surprising-that space only becomes part of the descriptive apparatus of art and architecture at the turn of the 20th century, not earlier. Remarkably, this is the first critical study of pictorial space as a historical construction. In this retelling of art history, Hyde presents it as a concept bound to historical circumstance, developing -often contentiously-in philosophy, mathematics and science, to finally become common in 20th century theorizations of art.

Hyde investigates and identifies the historical moments when space first enters discussions about art and how it originally developed in religion, philosophy, mathematics and science. He shows that only after several key controversies were stabilized that space finally emerged as a topic for visual art at the turn of the 20th century. The stories of these debuts introduce Kant, Poincare and Panofsky, thinkers who provided theories of space that were taken up by artists. They reveal the creative and imaginative ideas that forged the belief that space is essential to understanding art.

The ease of applying space to almost any context makes space prevalent today. It is unexamined faith, rather than a clear-eyed understanding of its historical construction that currently anchors space within the discourse of art. Hyde's original reading of what has become a broad, catch-all concept provides a reconsideration of the foundations of the history and philosophy of visual art.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction

PART I: AN ART HISTORY WITHOUT SPACE**: THE 13TH CENTURY**

1. NARRATIVES FOR THE 13TH CENTURY
2. THE SAINT OF SPECTACLE
3. CHRISTIAN PICTURES AND SAN FRANCESCO

4. PAINTING FROM SAN FRANCESCO TO THE NAVICELLA

   PART II: A HISTORY OF ART WITHOUT SPACE: ALBERTI AND LEONARDO'S CONSTRUCTION OF PERSPECTIVE

5. THE CLASSICAL MODEL OF VITRUVIUS
6. DE PICTURA AND EARLY PERSPECTIVE

7. THE PROLIFIC IMAGINATION OF LEONARDO

   PART III: SPACE IN PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION AND SCIENCE67

8. THE PLACE OF ARISTOTLE
9. THE DECENTERING OF PLACE
10. THE BECOMING OF SPACE

11. SPACE ASSUMES ITS MODERN FORM: LOCKE, NEWTON, LEIBNIZ AND KANT

    PART IV: THE EMERGENCE OF PICTORIAL SPACE

12. PAINTING: STUDIES AND DIALOGUE

13. THE GERMAN FOUNDING OF ART HISTORY

    PART V: AGE OF SPACE

14. CALCULATING CUBISM AND SPACE
15. THE MODERNIST INSTITUTION OF SPACE
16. SPACE-THE CREATIVE PHASE
17. PAINTING EXTENDS TO "REAL SPACE"

18. THE LAST HURRAH OF SPACE

    AFTERWORD
    Bibliography
    Index