Art Philosophy

Author: (French) D'Anvers
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1996-06-01
Features: The Philosophy of Art is a "monumental work on art, history, and human culture," and it "adopts not the form of a typical textbook but profound insights that point out the main trends of artistic development." D'Anvers advocates for the study of knowledge, emphasizing that one should "start from facts, not from doctrines; seek to explore laws rather than impart lessons, and prove those laws." He believes that the nature and appearance of material civilization and spiritual civilization depend on three major factors: race, environment, and era. Based on this principle, he elaborates on the artistic schools of Italy, the Netherlands, and ancient civilizations. The final section, The Ideal in Art, presents D'Anvers' aesthetics. The entire book is not only well-organized and lucid but also filled with passion, vivid imagery, and rich colors, free from the dry and tedious flaws common in theoretical writings. The Philosophy of Art in its illustrated (treasure edition) is divided into two volumes: the illustrated volume and the text volume. The illustrated volume features a carefully selected collection of 522 images, including 484 color illustrations, all meticulously retaken by the elderly photographer, Mr. Chen Yuan, who was eighty years old at the time.