Changing images of pictorial space : a history of spatial illusion in painting

No artist, critic, or art historian disputes the importance of recording how and why our conceptions and methods of depicting pictorial space have changed from ancient to modern times, and yet no previous book has provided a comprehensive history centered around these changing images of pictorial space and the ways in which their evolution reflects ideological changes in society. Dunning traces the two thousand year evolution of the conception and the depiction of space in European (primarily Italian and French) and American painting. Unraveling one illusory image after another into their particular elements, he explains the development of new styles and images in painting as a continuous rearrangement of these basic elements. Following this progression through the Greco-Roman period, the Italian Renaissance, impressionism, and the end of modern art, the author concludes with today’s postmodern concentration on linguistic aspects in painting, a change from the former emphasis on space and illusion. Changing Images of Pictorial Space, with over forty illustrations, will be of interest to a wide audience—from art historians, painters, and art educators to general readers who wish to understand more about one of the central organizing principles in all schools and periods of art. 1. Background -- 2. The Middle Ages : The Pre-renaissance ; Cimabue: The Great Beginner -- 3. The Proto-renaissance : Giotto: Inventing A New Perspective -- 4. The Renaissance System Of Perspective : Linear Perspective ; Separation Of Planes ; Atmospheric Perspective ; The Classic Color Theory -- 5. The Renaissance : Masaccio: The Shadow Catcher -- 6. The High Renaissance : Leonardo's Structure -- 7. Compositional Climax -- 8. The Baroque Age : Caravaggio's Cartesian Space -- 9. The Rococo Age : Tiepolo's New Priorities Of Figure And Space ; Gainsborough Reverses Color Perspective -- 10. The Roots Of Modernism : Degas's New Viewpoint -- 11. Monet's Synthesis Of Depth And Flatness -- 12. Cézanne's Elaborate Separation Of Planes -- 13. The Modernists : Picasso's Time And Space -- 14. Hans Hofmann's Spatial Chimera -- 15. Abstract Expressionism : Zen ; The Dancer From The Dance ; Freud And The Automatic Hand ; Pollack Negates Compositional Climax -- 16. Kline's Structure By Absence -- 17. De Kooning's Illusion Denying Illusion -- 18. The Ascendancy Of Pluralism : Newman's Binocular Paintings ; Poons's Spatial Confetti ; Photo-realism's Aporetic Content ; The Parting -- 19. Postmodernism And The Post-cartesian Viewer -- 20. Postmodernism: A New Language. William V. Dunning. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 237-243) And Index. 1. Background 2. The Middle Ages - The Pre-Renaissance - Cimabue: The Great Beginner 3. The Proto-Renaissance - Giotto: Inventing a New Perspective 4. The Renaissance System of Perspective - Linear Perspective - Separation of Planes - Atmospheric Perspective - The Classic Color Theory 5. The Renaissance - Masaccio: The Shadow Catcher 6. The High Renaissance - Leonardo’s Structure 7. Compositional Climax 8. The Baroque Age - Caravaggio’s Cartesian Space 9. The Rococo Age - Tiepolo’s New Priorities of Figure and Space - Gainsborough Reverses Color Perspective 10. The Roots of Modernism - Degas’s New Viewpoint 11. Monet’s Synthesis of Depth and Flatness 12. Cézanne’s Elaborate Separation of Planes 13. The Modernists - Picasso’s Time and Space 14. Hans Hofmann’s Spatial Chimera 15. Abstract Expressionism - Zen - The Dancer from the Dance - Freud and the Automatic Hand - Pollack Negates Compositional Clumax 16. Kline’s Structure by Absence 17. de Kooning’s Illusion Denying Illusion 18. The Ascendancy of Pluralism - Newman’s Binocular Paintings - Poons’s Spatial Confetti - Photo-Realism’s Aporetic Content - The Parting 19. Postmodernism and the Post-Cartesian Viewer 20. Postmodernism: A New Language Traces the evolution of the conception and the depiction of space in European (primarily Italian and French) and American painting and the ways in which this evolution reflects ideological changes in society over a period of 2000 years.