The Melancholy Art

(Hardback)

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Melancholy is not only about sadness, despair, and loss. As Renaissance artists and philosophers acknowledged long ago, it can engender a certain kind of creativity born from a deep awareness of the mutability of life and the inevitable cycle of birth and death. Drawing on psychoanalysis, philosophy, and the intellectual history of the history of a

Reviews

"Nostalgic and plaintive, this title's examination of the work of art historians is an enjoyable literary exercise that will foster discussion among art historians and their students."--Library Journal "To consider melancholy in art beyond the limits of despondency, loss, and grief is a refreshing way to induce a different space and energy between the past of the artwork and the viewer's present. In these erudite essays, art historian Michael Ann Holly makes case for works of art--'these beautiful orphans'--that reinvest in melancholia as the signifier and the signified."--Greta Aart, Cerise Press "In support of her argument, Holly marshals a wealth of erudition indicative of formidable trans-historical, interdisciplinary expertise... With the utmost refinement, Holly's own poetic resonance echoes from artful analogy and suggestive imagery."--Giovanna Costantini, Leonardo Reviews "While the driving power of melancholy remains unclear, many readers will be intrigued by this highly personal take on the profession."--Choice

Author Bio

Michael Ann Holly is the Starr Director of the Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute and teaches in the Graduate Program in the History of Art at Williams College. Her books include "Past Looking: Historical Imagination and the Rhetoric of the Image" and "Panofsky and the Foundations of Art History".