John Ruskin: The Argument Of The Eye
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:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A richly detailed work of art criticism and biography, John Ruskin: The Argument of the Eye presents a compelling examination of one of the nineteenth century's most influential thinkers, tracing how Ruskin's passionate engagement with visual experience shaped his revolutionary theories on art, architecture, and society. Robert Hewison argues that for Ruskin, the act of seeing was never merely aesthetic but was fundamentally moral — a conviction that drove his celebrated defenses of Turner and the Gothic tradition, as well as his later social criticism. With scholarly precision and an accessible tone, the text chronicles Ruskin's intellectual development from his early writings in Modern Painters through the sweeping architectural philosophy of The Stones of Venice, illustrating how a single, unifying vision of beauty underpinned an entire life's work. Hewison situates Ruskin within the broader cultural anxieties of Victorian England, demonstrating how his ideas about craftsmanship and the dignity of labor anticipated the Arts and Crafts movement and continue to resonate in contemporary debates about art and industry. This is an authoritative and elegantly written study that rewards both the specialist and the general reader with a deeper understanding of Ruskin's enduring legacy.
Author: Robert Hewison
Format: Hardback
Published: 1976, Thames and Hudson
Genre: Biography
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: No markings
A richly detailed work of art criticism and biography, John Ruskin: The Argument of the Eye presents a compelling examination of one of the nineteenth century's most influential thinkers, tracing how Ruskin's passionate engagement with visual experience shaped his revolutionary theories on art, architecture, and society. Robert Hewison argues that for Ruskin, the act of seeing was never merely aesthetic but was fundamentally moral — a conviction that drove his celebrated defenses of Turner and the Gothic tradition, as well as his later social criticism. With scholarly precision and an accessible tone, the text chronicles Ruskin's intellectual development from his early writings in Modern Painters through the sweeping architectural philosophy of The Stones of Venice, illustrating how a single, unifying vision of beauty underpinned an entire life's work. Hewison situates Ruskin within the broader cultural anxieties of Victorian England, demonstrating how his ideas about craftsmanship and the dignity of labor anticipated the Arts and Crafts movement and continue to resonate in contemporary debates about art and industry. This is an authoritative and elegantly written study that rewards both the specialist and the general reader with a deeper understanding of Ruskin's enduring legacy.