Title: Essays on art and aesthetics /
Authors: Simmel, Georg, 1858-1918; Harrington, Austin, 1970-
Year: 2020
Subjects: Aesthetics; Arts Philosophy; Art Philosophy; Aesthetics; Art Philosophy; Arts Philosophy
Abstract: "This book is a first of its kind: an edited collection bringing the finest of Georg Simmel's writing on art and aesthetics together, and bringing many of these essays into English for the first time. Simmel is considered one of the founding fathers of modern sociology but he, like his contemporary Walter Benjamin, wrote about many aspects of life and culture. Simmel's intellectual contributions have long been recognized and he is a keystone in cultural theory of the early 20th century. The essays in this collection are gathered topically and show the wide range of Simmel's thinking even within the arts: aesthetics, landscape, theater, sculpture, literature, and more. Austin Harrington is the brilliant guide behind this substantial volume. He served as editor and translator and also wrote an introduction. Richly informative and thoroughly familiar with Simmel's life and work, Harrington's introduction will itself be an important contribution to the scholarship on Simmel"--
Contents: Aesthetics. Sociological aesthetics ; Kant and modern aesthetics ; Art for art's sake ; Autonomy in the work of art -- Materials, functions, institutions. On art exhibitions ; On aesthetic quantities ; Aesthetics of gravity ; The picture frame : an aesthetic study ; The handle -- Style and representation. A note on Japanese art ; On the third dimension in art ; On realism in art ; On caricature ; Individualism in art ; Germanic and Classical Romanic Style -- Landscape painting. Arnold Böcklin's landscapes ; On the aesthetics of the Alps ; The Philosophy of landscape -- Portraiture. The aesthetic significance of the face ; Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper ; Aesthetics of the portrait : Part I ; Aesthetics of the portrait : Part II -- Theater. Gerhart Hauptmann's The Weavers ; Theater and the dramatic actor : Part I ; Theater and the dramatic actor : Part II ; Theater and the dramatic actor : Part III -- Sculpture. Michelangelo and the metaphysics of culture ; On Constantin Meunier ; Auguste Rodin : Part I ; Auguste Rodin : Part II ; Auguste Rodin : Part III -- Literature. Maurice Maeterlinck's Wisdom and destiny ; Stefan George : Part I ; Stefan George: Part II ; Goethe and the creative life ; Individuality and character in Goethe and Shakespeare ; Rainer Maria Rilke.