The Social Context of Art ed. by Jean Creedy (review)

272 Books They say that the subject is very large and largely unknown and the papers (very academic ones) are reproduced to justify the statement. A book should either contain new information in an understandable language or it should amuse the reader! 1 find that, unfortunately, this book does neither. The Social Context of Art. Jean Creedy, ed. Tavistock Publications, London, 1972. 217 pp. Reviewed by James A. Goldman* This book is a collection of 11 essays by several authors concerned with the role of the visual artist in society. Although a few were written in the period 1966-67, all are in the spirit of the fundamental questioning regarding the scope and purpose of the teaching of art-an issue that became the focus of the 1968 tumult in art colleges, especially in Britain. In the introductory essay, Creedy declares ‘that the one prerequisite of any work of art is that we should respond to it, not that we should necessarily judge it well or ill’. Further salient features are the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of art, the pervasive symbolical protest against all authority and a movement toward anonymity. It is contended that these trends are not unexpected, because they parallel others in British society. The history of art from a sociological perspective is traced by Barber. Two important factors are the classbelongedness and the class-identification of the artist. It is the latter which is the predominant influence. Apropos is the recent discussion in New Scienfisf(59, 437 (23 Aug. 1973)) where it is argued that a study of Rembrandt’s portraits shows that the social relationship of the sitter with respect to the artist is an important factor in whether the left or right cheek is portrayed. Correspondence in subsequent issues considerably qualifies this thesis. Contemporary art is increasingly ‘self-centered and innerdirected , as opposed to a group-centered and traditiondirected personality structure’ that parallels changes in society. Evidently, the impact of society on artists is considerably greater than that of artists on society. Lucie-Smith suggests that from the Dadaists onward, there occurred a shift of focus from the object itself to the responses produced by the object. Concurrently, there was a minimization of the art object as a possession-in the eyes of the artist. He however asserts that the seemingly impersonal appearances of much contemporary art is a facade behind which exists a deeply personal and individualistic impulse. Yet the emphasis is on the subjectivity of spectators rather than on that of artists. Even more accurately, art becomes ‘a game in which the artist and the spectator are both engaged’. Aperfornratrce rather than a making. The development of art toward the abstract is ‘logical and inevitable’ in Western society where goods are being replaced by services-a social transformation toward the more abstract, as it were. Recapitulating ideas advanced as motivating forces, e.g. alienation, anti-elitism, existentialism etc., Kedward concludes that none is altogether adequate, because of the multiformity and complexity of the contemporary social and intellectual context in which 20th-century man finds himself. Gabor foresees artistic endeavors as restoring to balance the emotional equilibrium upset by undue emphasis on science and technology. Kepes suggests a shift from private toward civic and environmental art that would be compatible with technology. Other essays focus on patronage, industrial design, film and art for mental health. The concluding contribution is in the form of a discursive but provocative ‘letter’ from Cornford. Indeed, the diversity of themes presented well exemplifies Kedward‘s thesis. *Div. of Continuing Education, New York City Community College, City University of New York, Brooklyn, NY 11201, U.S.A. Varieties of Visual Experience: Art as Image and Idea. Edmund Burke Feldman. Revised and enlarged edition. Abranis, New York, 1972. 680 pp., illus. Reviewed by Arnold Berleant** This new edition expands the scope of both the text and illustrations of the first edition. It has a large format whose scale extends as well to its scope, impressing one by its range of discussion and profusion of illustration. The guiding assumption of the book, that works of art have the function of illuminating life in a unique way, is, I believe, both significantly true and...