Painting as Model

October Books

by Yve-Alain Bois

Informed by both structuralism and poststructuralism, these essays by art critic and historian Yve Alain Bois seek to redefine the status of theory in modernist critical discourse. Warning against the uncritical adoption of theoretical fashions and equally against the a priori rejection of all theory, Bois argues that theory is best employed in response to the specific demands of a critical problem. The essays lucidly demonstrate the uses of various theoretical approaches in conjunction with close reading of both paintings and texts.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

358 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1990

Reviews

[Sherry Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you are a painter-absolutely necessary. Chapter on Robert Ryman is everything. Every.Thing.

[Curtis Anthony Bozif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revisiting Painting as Model after I first tried reading it in art school twenty years ago confirmed not only that I was not ready to read Yve-Alain Bois at twenty-two, but that his book is a humourless slog.