Review:
"An admirable introduction to the period's complicated relationships between art and theory. Avoiding the usual stylistic banners--Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, etc.--Taylor grouped the letters, essays, and lectures into six more general categories, each a response to new artistic freedoms beginning in the last years of the 18th century. . . . Each section is preceded by a thoughtful essay, and each text by a short biography and bibliography. Some texts are fully developed philosophical treatises; others, usually by artists, are sketchy notes. But all are closely linked to the creation and contemplation of actual art. Destined to be a staple."--"Print Collectors Newsletter
From the Back Cover:
A theory of art may be many things, from a complex philosophical treatise to a few basic observations jotted down by an artist that illumine the direction of his work. The late eighteenth-and nineteenth-century writings gathered here were selected not because they completely formulate systems governing art, but because they were closely allied with artists responded, and some were composed by critics or historians who were in close touch with the artists and sought to explain their artistic goals.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.