Art's Agency and Art History (New Interventions in Art History Book 7)

Art's Agency and Art History re-articulates the relationship of the anthropology of art to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics.

* Explores important concepts and perspectives in the anthropology of art
* Includes nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists
* Covers a wide range of periods, including Bronze-Age China, Classical Greece, Rome, and Mayan, as well as the modern Western world
* Features an introductory essay by leading experts, which helps clarify issues in the field
* Includes numerous illustrations

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"A very interesting volume, not only for the excellent quality of its chapters, but also because it shows promising perspectives in the cross-fertilization between anthropology and art history." (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, March 2009)

"This book represents an extended, timely and extremely valuable exploration of the applicability of the work of Alfred Gell." (The Classical Review, 2008)

"Not a single paper presented here failed to provoke or delight this reviewer. This edited volume offers an excellent introduction to Gell's ideas.... It will surely form an important place in the growing canon of Gell-inspired literature." (Journal of Hellenic Studies, February 2009)

FROM THE INSIDE FLAP
Art's Agency and Art History develops a scintillating dialogue between anthropology and art history. It throws the subject of the anthropology of art into striking and much-needed relief, by re-articulating its relationships to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics. Using Alfred Gell's influential work as a touchstone, the book showcases nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists. Following an accessible introductory to Gell's anthropology of art, and its relationship with contemporary art history, the collection explores concepts and perspectives in a wide range of contexts, ranging from such cultures as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, to those of Classical Greece and Rome, Imperial China, the Moche of Peru, and finally the modern Western world. FROM THE BACK COVER
Art's Agency and Art History develops a scintillating dialogue between anthropology and art history. It throws the subject of the anthropology of art into striking and much-needed relief, by re-articulating its relationships to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics. Using Alfred Gell's influential work as a touchstone, the book showcases nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists. Following an accessible introductory to Gell's anthropology of art, and its relationship with contemporary art history, the collection explores concepts and perspectives in a wide range of contexts, ranging from such cultures as Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, to those of Classical Greece and Rome, Imperial China, the Moche of Peru, and finally the modern Western world. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Robin Osborne is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Cambridge. He writes widely across the range of Greek history, Greek archaeology, and Classical art history. He is the author of Archaic and Classical Greek Art (1998) and of Greek History (2004) .
Jeremy Tanner is a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, where he teaches Classical archaeology and comparative art. He is the editor of The Sociology of Art: a Reader (2003) , and the author of The Invention of Art History in Ancient Greece: Religion, Society and Artistic Rationalisation (2006)

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