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The Elements of Life Richard Wendorf (Librarian, Houghton Library, Librarian, Houghton Library, Harvard University)

The Elements of Life By Richard Wendorf (Librarian, Houghton Library, Librarian, Houghton Library, Harvard University)

Summary

This ambitious study focuses on the great age of English portraiture, from the the arrival of Van Dyck (1632) to the publication of Boswell's Life of Johnson (1791), in order to establish the grounds of comparison between biography and portrait-painting - two arts that have often been linked in a casual way but whose historical interrelations remain almost entirely unexplored.

The Elements of Life Summary

The Elements of Life: Biography and Portrait-Painting in Stuart and Georgian England by Richard Wendorf (Librarian, Houghton Library, Librarian, Houghton Library, Harvard University)

In this ambitious study, Richard Wendorf establishes the grounds of comparison between two arts that have often been linked in a casual way but whose historical interrelations remain almost completely unexplored. By focusing on the great age of English portraiture - from the arrival of Van Dyck to the publication of Boswell's Life of Johnson - the author shows that, despite their obvious differences, visual and verbal portraits often shared similar assumptions about the representation of historical character. Grounded in modern theory devoted to the comparison of literature and painting and to the problem of representation, this book examines each form of portraiture in terms of the other. Among those writers considered are Izaak Walton, John Evelyn, John Aubrey, Roger North, Goldsmith, Johnson, Mrs Piozzi, Boswell; among the artists are Van Dyck, Lely, Samuel Cooper, Jonathan Richardson, Hogarth and Reynolds. The careers of `double agents' (painters, like Richardson and Reynolds, who experimented with biographical writing) are also discussed. The Elements of Life is a ground-breaking critical history of biography and portrait-painting in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The Elements of Life Reviews

sophisticated and scholarly ... the book is full of new insights, and the beauty of Wendorf's approach lies in his close readings of portraits and biographical writings. * Shearer West, Times Literary Supplement *

Table of Contents

List of plates; List of abbreviations; Representing historical character; Iconic biography: Izaak Walton and John Evelyn; Iconic pictures: Van Dyck and Stuart portraiture; Brief lives and miniatures: John Aubrey and Samuel Cooper; Double agents: Jonathan Richardson and Roger North; Hogarth's dilemma; Biography at mid-century: Acts of complicated virtue; Reynolds and 'The Genius of Life'; Boswell's Flemish picture; Epilogue: Gainsborough's Butterfly; Index

Additional information

GOR002016037
9780198119791
0198119798
The Elements of Life: Biography and Portrait-Painting in Stuart and Georgian England by Richard Wendorf (Librarian, Houghton Library, Librarian, Houghton Library, Harvard University)
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Oxford University Press
1992-01-23
330
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

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