A Brief History of the Artist from God to Picasso

Acknowledgments

a ck no wl ed gm en t s Despite the brevity of this work, it is a synthesis of a lifetime of thinking about the idea of the artist. My debts are huge. Countless friends, acquaintances , students, and colleagues have offered advice, suggestions, ideas that I have assimilated here. A list of all of these individuals who have been so helpful would approximate the length of a telephone book. I do, however, want to acknowledge specifically Laurie Schneider Adams, the late Staige Blackford, Roy Tommy Eriksen, Herbert Golder, Józef Grabski, John Dixon Hunt, and especially Nicholas Poburko, who published earlier versions of portions of this book, despite the unorthodoxy of both the form and the content of my essays. An invitation from Joseph Connors to be a visiting professor at the Villa I Tatti in the spring of 2008 was providential, since it allowed me to map out this book. David Kovacs, John F. Miller, and, above all, Jenny Strauss Clay made critical observations on my Homer chapter at a crucial juncture; their help enabled me to see just how my book might compose itself. I have also profited from the help and support of Matthew Affron, Daniel Barolsky , Deborah Barolsky, Anne Barriault, Sarah Betzer, David Cast, Charles Deily, Jessica Feldman, Francesca Fiorani, Alastair Fowler, Virginia Germino, Sanda Iliescu, Walter Kaiser, Judith Kovacs, Fred Licht, Ralph Lieberman, Lene Østermark-Johansen, Louise Putnam, Ricardo Quinones, Dylan Rogers, Susannah Rutherglen, Howard Singerman, Tyler Jo Smith, David Summers, William Wallace, and Daniel Weiss. My debt to my family is beyond measure. My greatest debt is to Ruth; without her this book could never have been written. In this book, as in my related books on Vasari, I have not used footnotes but have appended a bibliographical essay at the conclusion, which situates my work in relation to previous scholarship. I also include a selected bibliography, which serves as a reader’s guide to some of the literature that has mattered most to me in developing the historical suggestions that follow. I am much more concerned with presenting certain patterns in the history of the idea of the artist than with trying to clinch arguments with specific quotations. ...