A World Art History and Its Objects

David Carrier

• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN: 9780271034140, 9780271034140
• eBook ISBN: 9780271036069
• Topic: Arte
• Subtopic: Teoría y crítica del arte

Is writing a world art history possible? Does the history of art as such even exist outside the Western tradition? Is it possible to consider the history of art in a way that is not fundamentally Eurocentric? In this highly readable and provocative book, David Carrier, a philosopher and art historian, does not attempt to write a world art history himself. Rather, he asks the question of how an art history of all cultures could be written—or whether it is even possible to do so. He also engages the political and moral issues raised by the idea of a multicultural art history. Focusing on a consideration of intersecting artistic traditions, Carrier negotiates the way meaning and understanding shift or are altered when a visual object from one culture, for example, is inserted into the visual tradition of another culture. A World Art History and Its Objects proposes the use of temporal narrative as a way to begin to understand a multicultural art history.

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Diagrams
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Overture: Islamic Carpets in European Paintings
• 1. Works of Art and Art-Historical Narratives
• 2. Monocultural Art-History Narratives
• 3. Why Monoculturalism Is Not the Whole Story
• 4. What Happens When Art-Making Traditions Intersect
• 5. Charts and Works of Art
• 6. The Importance of an Aesthetic
• 7. Exotic Aesthetics
• 8. How Exotic Can Exotic Art Be?
• 9. Our World Art History Is Imperialism Seen Aesthetically
• 10. Mutual Respect as an Ethical Ideal
• Conclusion: The Coming Transformation of Western Art History
• Selective Annotated Bibliography
• Index
• Back Cover