The Grotesque in Western Art and Culture: The Image at Play

by Frances S. Connelly

This book establishes a fresh and expansive view of the grotesque in Western art and culture, from 1500 to the present day. Following the non-linear evolution of the grotesque, Frances S. Connelly analyzes key works, situating them within their immediate social and cultural contexts, as well as their place in the historical tradition. By taking a long historical view, the book reveals the grotesque to be a complex and continuous tradition comprised of several distinct the ornamental, the carnivalesque and caricatural, the traumatic, and the profound. The book articulates a model for understanding the grotesque as a rupture of cultural boundaries that compromises and contradicts accepted realities. Connelly demonstrates that the grotesque is more than a style, genre, or subject; it is a cultural phenomenon engaging the central concerns of the humanistic debate today. Hybrid, ambivalent, and changeful, the grotesque is a shaping force in the modern era.

Genres: Art, Cultural

199 pages, Hardcover

First published July 30, 2012

Reviews

[Jonathan Frederick Walz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This synthetic history of the grotesque is concise, well-written, well-illustrated, and useful. Inspired and inspiring.

[Sofía · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro bonito sobre lo grotesco.