Revival: Memory and Desire (2002): Painting in Britain and Ireland at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 List of Figures 10 Acknowledgements 14 1 Victims of Fashion 18 2 Savant and Populaire – Connoisseurship and Popular Taste in the Art of the Past 36 3 The Power of Appreciation 56 4 Haunts of Ancient Peace 80 5 Fashionable Flic-Flac 102 6 The Spirit of Storms 124 7 The End of Naturalism 148 8 The Renaissance of the Imagination 174 9 A Walk in the Park 200 10 Some Men and a Picture 220 11 Memory and Visuality 244 Coda: Memory and Modernity 262 Notes 270 Select Bibliography 308 Index 318 "This title was first published in 2002. 'Memory and Desire' is a lavishly illustrated account of the art world in Britain at the turn of the twentieth century. It calls upon rich resources of contemporary diaries, letters and art criticism, as well as the analysis of works of art to answer questions about how and why new artistic tendencies emerged and tastes changed. Eschewing the familiar narrative of an inevitable progress towards modernism, Kenneth McConkey considers a broad range of art and critical thinking in the period. Discussing the market for old master paintings, which rivalled those for modern art, and the question of how and why certain genres of art were particularly successful at the time, McConkey explores the detail and significance of contemporary taste. He draws upon the work of commercially successful painters such as John Singer Sargent, William Orpen, George Clausen, Alfred East, John Lavery and Philip Wilson Steer, and their critic-supporters to throw light upon current arguments about training, aesthetics, visual memory and the creation of new art. 'Memory and Desire' is a major contribution to our knowledge of this important period in British art."--Provided by publisher