Wilde appears as less of a touchstone than an excuse in this bric-a-brac analysis of assorted marginal artistic fashions in 19th-century America. Whatever the long-term results were on the aesthetic movement of Wilde’s American lectures, which he delivered across the length and breadth of the country in 1882, they brought him a lot of mocking press and a great deal of money in the short run. Blanchard (Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis) notes that Wilde found a receptive audience that was ready to hear him on “The English Renaissance,” “The House Beautiful,” and “The Decorative Arts,” but she herself seems more interested in Wilde’s press clippings—in Wilde “the human objet d’art”—than in the substance of his popular lectures or, still less, in the ideas of Ruskin, Pater, and Morris which they embody. Though Wilde was hardly averse to publicity, contemporary press caricatures of his outlandish costume and affected manner provide little more than contemporary attitudes to masculinity and interior decoration, and they give to Blanchard’s discussion of the aesthetic movement’s influence in America and the “counter-culture” that embraced it very little beyond gauzy (and obvious) generalities. Looking at the aesthetic movement from the perspective of women, Blanchard portrays the disparate lives and careers of the designer Candace Wheeler, the poet Celia Thaxter, and the critic Mariana Van Rensselaer, who all worked within the wider spectrum of the decorative arts that flourished in the Gilded Age. The gaping gender fault lines in American attitudes toward art and artists that Blanchard analyzes unfortunately reduce themselves in her argument to hostile dialectics. The influential Arts & Crafts movement, for instance, is dismissed as merely “a vogue largely controlled and directed by men.” A tendentious and diffuse approach to Wilde’s dictum that “one should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art.” (illustrations)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-300-07460-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1998
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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