Patterns Of Intention: On The Historical Explanation Of Pictures
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Condition: Very Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding: Good.
What does it truly mean to explain a work of art? In Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, Michael Baxandall confronts one of art history's most fundamental and underexamined questions, arguing that our language of criticism is not merely descriptive but deeply inferential — a reconstruction of the intentional processes behind a picture's creation. Drawing on a carefully chosen set of case studies, from Picasso's Portrait of Kahnweiler to the Forth Bridge, Baxandall instructs the reader in a rigorous method of historical interpretation that takes seriously the gap between what an artist intended and what a viewer perceives. Baxandall's method, which he terms inferential criticism, challenges the comfortable assumptions of both formalist and iconographic traditions, positioning art history as an active, self-aware discipline. His prose is lucid yet demanding, rewarding those who engage closely with its arguments about causality, language, and historical circumstance. A landmark text in the philosophy of art history, Patterns of Intention continues to unsettle and inspire scholars who believe that looking at pictures is only the beginning of understanding them.
Author: Michael Baxandall
Format: Hardback
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Condition: Very Good. Jacket: Worn/faded - no tears. Page Condition: Good. Markings: No markings. Binding: Good.
What does it truly mean to explain a work of art? In Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, Michael Baxandall confronts one of art history's most fundamental and underexamined questions, arguing that our language of criticism is not merely descriptive but deeply inferential — a reconstruction of the intentional processes behind a picture's creation. Drawing on a carefully chosen set of case studies, from Picasso's Portrait of Kahnweiler to the Forth Bridge, Baxandall instructs the reader in a rigorous method of historical interpretation that takes seriously the gap between what an artist intended and what a viewer perceives. Baxandall's method, which he terms inferential criticism, challenges the comfortable assumptions of both formalist and iconographic traditions, positioning art history as an active, self-aware discipline. His prose is lucid yet demanding, rewarding those who engage closely with its arguments about causality, language, and historical circumstance. A landmark text in the philosophy of art history, Patterns of Intention continues to unsettle and inspire scholars who believe that looking at pictures is only the beginning of understanding them.