FA: $5.00 A Concise History of Modern Sculpture

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A Concise History of Modern Sculpture
By Herbert Read

Soft Cover, Oxford Press, 1964, 310 Pages
339 plates 49 in color

A true work of art, Herbert Read believed, acts as a bridge between the two
worlds of feeling and perception, giving definition to feeling and form to
perception. This is the significance of Cezanne's heroic struggle with his
sensations and the starting-point of the modern movement. Despite Rodin's
attempt to restore to sculpture the grandeur of Michelangelo's art, his work -
with its prevailing mood of subjectivism - did not supply the foundation for a
new art. It was the experimental sculptures of Degas and Matisse, both
strongly influenced by Cezanne, that were the modern sculptures. These, along
with African tribal arts, led to Picasso's and Braque's Cubism - a decisive
break with traditional representational art - the art of substitution and
symbolism.

Against this background, Sir Herbert discusses the work of the great masters
of modern sculpture: Picasso, Brancusi, Gonzalez, Marcel Duchamp, Giacometti,
and Moore, and examines the major movements and their defining principles. The
diffusion of styles of sculpture since World War II, represented by
Chamberlain, Paolozzi, Nevelson, and others, leads the author to conclude that
the distinctive characteristic of the post-war situation is the sculptor's
determination to belong to no movement.

"... There is illumination on every page, and his prose has a flexibility and
crystalline purity that many contemporary writers on art would do well to
emulate" - New York Times Book Review
"His ability to survey the accomplishments of the art since Rodin and sieve
the essential ... is unsurpassed. The illustrations are remarkable for their
diversity" - Studio International

Sir Herbert Read, one of the world's most eminent art critics, died in 1968.
He was the author of many distinguished books, and his A Concise History of
Modern Painting is also in The World of Art series.

Contents
CHAPTER ONE The Prelude
CHAPTER TWO Eclecticism
CHAPTER THREE From Cubism to Constructivism
CHAPTER FOUR From Futurism to Surrealism
CHAPTER FIVE The Vital Image
CHAPTER SIX A Diffusion of Styles

Text References
Select Bibliography
List of Works Reproduced