IN THE LAND OF TEMPLE CAVES: From St. Emilion to Paris's St. Sulpice : Notes on Art and the Human Spirit

Turner, Frederick W.

ISBN 10: 158243266X / ISBN 13: 9781582432663

Published by Counterpoint, 2004

Seller Inventory # 158243266X-3-36425768

Synopsis:

One of the nation's premier naturalists argues that art does matter, moving back and forth from ice age caves to nearby country churches while traveling in France in search of the true and beautiful. 30,000 first printing.

Synopsis: A cri de coeur from one of America's most eloquent and respected naturalists on why Art does matter. In September 2001, following moments when civilization seemed to have unraveled, Frederick Turner undertook a quest for confirmation that Art does matter, that it is the preeminent human expression of the Life Force; that it is as undeniably necessary as air. In the Land of Temple Caves goes back to the very beginning of Art to assess anew its meanings in the long human story. Turner makes a personal investigation of sanctuaries in France and Spain that the great mythographer Joseph Campbell called the "temple caves," the earliest known of which contains paintings more than 32,000 years old. In the caves are works of art more advanced than the hunting implements by which their creators lived. Turner starts his journey in St. Emilion at the gateway to the country of the caves, and ends it in Paris's St. Sulpice. And in the caves and prehistoric shelters, along the valleys tracing the mighty rivers of the Ice Age, in a war-ravaged village, and in a city church far removed from the country of the caves, Turner finds resonant meaning in what he has always believed to be true.

In this beautiful, multifaceted travelogue that puts France's land of temple caves and the inviting life above them on a timeless map, it becomes increasingly, movingly clear: Art does matter.

Bibliographic Details

Title: IN THE LAND OF TEMPLE CAVES: From St. ...
Publisher: Counterpoint
Publication Date: 2004
Binding: hardcover
Condition: Good