The Myth of Abstraction - The Hidden Origins of Abstract Art in German Literature

An alternative genealogy of abstract art, featuring the crucial role of 19th-century German literature in shaping it aesthetically, culturally, and socially.

List of contents

Introduction: The Many Origins of Abstract Art
Apocalypse Now: Heinrich Von Kleist's Sublime De-Framing of Caspar David Friedrich's Der Mönch Am Meer (1810)
The Kleistian Sublime Is Now: Kazimir Malevich, Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman
The Clouding of Perception: Seeing The (Un)Real Potential for Abstraction in the Poetry and Science of Goethe's Clouds (1821)
In the Service of Clouds or Optical Illusion?: Romanticism, Pointillism, and Impressionism
Driven to Distraction and from Abstraction: The Birth and Death of Abstract Art in Gottfried Keller's Der Grüne Heinrich (1854/55, 1879/80)
Inside the Mind and Outside the Margins: The Unruly Lines of Paul Klee, André Masson, and Cy Twombly
Epilogue: Laocoön and His Sisters: The Future of Literature and Art

About the author

Andrea Meyertholen

Summary

An alternative genealogy of abstract art, featuring the crucial role of 19th-century German literature in shaping it aesthetically, culturally, and socially.

Product details

• Authors: Andrea Meyertholen
• Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Ltd.
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2021
• EAN: 9781640141049
• ISBN: 978-1-64014-104-9
• No. of pages: 310
• Dimensions: 235 mm x 158 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 754 g
• Illustrations: 29 Maps
• Series: Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture; Studies in German Literature L
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > Art > Art history