Embodied poses : Leo Steinberg and kinesthetic empathy -- Ideas in translation : gestalt theory and phenomenology -- The place of the viewer in 'art and objecthood' -- Conclusion -- Epilogue : art history and the place of the viewer since 1968 -- The "idea of the spectator" : theorizations of the audience, c. 1972 -- The persistent centrality of the viewer.
Summary:
In recent decades, art historians and critics have occasionally emphasized a dynamic, embodied mode of looking, accenting the role of the viewer and the complex interplay between beholders and works of art. In The Place of the Viewer, Kerr Houston shows that an attention to the position and physical experiences of beholders has in fact long informed art historical analyses - and that close study of the theme can lead to a fuller understanding of the discipline, the act of viewership and individual works of art. Simultaneously attentive to historical ideas and contemporary scholarship, this book identifies a vein of thought that has been generally overlooked, and proposes new ways of seeing familiar works and traditions.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.