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"Theory of Clouds: Towards a New History of Painting" Author: [France] Hubert Damisch Series: Phoenix Library·Art Theory Research Series
"Theory of Clouds: Towards a New History of Painting" Author: [France] Hubert Damisch Series: Phoenix Library·Art Theory Research Series
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Description
Introduction · · · · · ·
From the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century, clouds have always filled the sky of Western painting. It is not just a descriptive theme, but also a semiotic factor of painting, and its function changes with the times. Initially, it is used to make the sacred appear in reality (the Ascension of Christ, mystical visions, etc.), just like a mechanical prop in the play; in the Renaissance, its function becomes ambiguous, because the perspective mode begins to play a modulating role. In this context, the role of clouds is to cover the inexpressible infinity, and at the same time it indicates infinity. This ensures a paradoxical balance of the painting mechanism that is closely linked to scientific conditions.
By taking inventory of the different functions of symbolic signifiers/clouds/, this book redistributes the areas and functions traditionally attributed to art to science and ideology in the expressive structure. Its real purpose is to enable art history to regain its systematicity and materiality.
Celebrity Recommendation
Published in 1972, this monograph on art history was the first attempt to study the development of perspective since the Renaissance using purely semiotic theory. It remains challenging in many ways. Far from being outdated, it remains a masterpiece, touching upon the most important features of the Western tradition in a systematic and interactive way.
--Stephen Baan, University of Bristol, UK
Compared with those semiotics fanatics who are engaged in the study of contemporary art history, Damisch's attitude towards scholarship is persistent and serious, and he hopes to take this issue seriously. Perhaps, before the publication of The Origin of Perspective and The Theory of Clouds, we did not know how to use semiotics to study art history, but now we have no excuse to avoid it.
--Ian Verstegen, University of Georgia, USA, in MIT's Journal of Arts, Sciences and Technology
About the Author · · · · · ·
Hubert Damisch, born in 1928, is a famous French semiotician and art historian. He holds an authoritative position in the study of the history of perspective. He founded the Center for Art Theory and Art History Research of the French Institute of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences and served as its director until his retirement. His major works include "Bright Yellow", "The Origin of Perspective", "The Choice of Paris", etc., and "The Theory of Clouds" is his famous work.
Dong Qiang was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1967. He is currently a professor of French literature and a doctoral supervisor at Peking University, and the chairman of the Fu Lei Translation and Publishing Award Jury. He lived in France for twelve years. He has published more than 30 translations and monographs, including Liang Zongdai: A Journey Through Symbolism, Illustrated History of French Literature, the Chinese-French bilingual poetry collection L'autre Main, The Analects, and The Great Dictionary of Western Painting. He was awarded the "Knight of French Education" Medal of Honor by the French government and the "Gold Medal of the Alliance Française" by the French Academy.
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