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Animism and shamanism in twentieth-century art : Kandinsky, Ernst, Pollock, Beuys / Evan R. Firestone.
Author
Firestone, Evan R.
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Format
Book
Language
English
Published/Created
New York : Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2017.
Description
xiv, 197 pages ; 26 cm
Availability
Copies in the Library
Location
Call Number
Status
Location Service
Notes
Marquand Library - Remote Storage: Marquand Use Only
N72.R4 F56 2016
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Details
Subject(s)
Art and religion
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Shamanism in art
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Kandinsky, Wassily 1866-1944
—
Criticism and interpretation
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Ernst, Max 1891-1976
—
Criticism and interpretation
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Pollock, Jackson 1912-1956
—
Criticism and interpretation
[Browse]
Beuys, Joseph
—
Criticism and interpretation
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Summary note
Wassily Kandinsky, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, and Joseph Beuys were the leading artists of their generations to recognize the rich possibilities that animism and shamanism offered. While each of these artists' connection with shamanism has been written about separately, Evan Firestone brings the four together in order to compare their individual approaches to anthropological materials and to define similarities and differences between them. The author's close readings of their works and examination of the relevant texts available to them reveal fresh insights and new perspectives. The importance of indigenous beliefs in animism for Kandinsky's philosophy of art and practice, especially the animism of inanimate objects, is analyzed for the first time in conjunction with his well-known enthusiasms for Symbolism and Theosophy. Ernst's collage novel, 'La femme 100 tetes' (1929), previously found to have significant alchemical content, also is shown to extensively utilize shamanism, thereby merging different branches of the occult that prove to have remarkable similarities. The in-depth examination of Pollock's works, both known and overlooked for shamanic content, identifies textual sources that heretofore have escaped notice. Firestone also demonstrates how shamanism was employed by this artist to express his desire for healing and transformation. The author further argues that the German edition of Mircea Eliade's 'Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy' (1957) helped to revitalize Beuys's life and art, and that his ecological campaigns reflected a new consciousness later termed ecoanimism.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Kandinsky and animism: "Everything 'dead' trembled"
Max Ernst's La femme 100 têtes: a shamanic-alchemical romance
Vision quest: Jackson Pollock and the Native-American spirit world
Joseph Beuys as shaman: the medium is the message
Conclusion: the occult, primitivism, modernism, and anti-modernism
Addendum: Beuys redux.
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Other title(s)
Animism and shamanism in 20th-century art
ISBN
9781472477347 ((hardback ; : alk. paper))
1472477340 ((hardback ; : alk. paper))
LCCN
2016010635
OCLC
944381673
Other standard number
40026717100
Statement on language in description
Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage.
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Animism and shamanism in twentieth-century art : Kandinsky, Ernst, Pollock, Beuys / Evan R. Firestone.
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SCSB-9990635