Three Essays on Style

by Erwin Panofsky, Irving Lavin

Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) was one of the preeminent art historians of the twentieth century. A new translation of his seminal work, Perspective as Symbolic Form , was recently published by Zone Books; now three remarkable essays, one previously unpublished, place Panofsky's genius in a different What Is Baroque?, Style and Medium in the Motion Pictures, and The Ideological Antecedents of the Rolls-Royce Radiator . The essays are framed by an introduction by Irving Lavin, Panofsky's successor as Professor of Art History at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, discussing the context of the essays' composition and their signficance within Panofsky's oeuvre, and an insightful memoir by Panofsky's former student, close friend, and fellow emigre, William Heckscher.

All three essays reveal unexpected aspects of Panofsky's sensibility, both personal and intellectual. Originally written as lectures for general audiences, they are composed in a lively, informal manner, and are full of charm and wit. The studies concern broadly defined problems of style in art— the visual symptoms endemic to works of a certain period (Baroque), medium (film), or national identity (England)—as opposed to the focus on iconography and subject matter usually associated with Panofsky's "method." The essay on Baroque, which Lavin considers "vintage Panofsky" and which appears here for the first time, and the one on film were written in 1934. The Rolls-Royce piece was written in 1962.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, Art History

255 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Erwin Panofsky was a German art historian, whose academic career was pursued almost entirely in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. In 1935, while teaching concurrently at New York University and Princeton University (something he continued to do his entire career), he was invited to join the faculty of the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. From 1947 to 1948 Panofsky was the Charles Eliot Norton professor at Harvard University.

Panofsky's work remains highly influential in the modern academic study of iconography. Many of his works remain in print, including Studies in Iconology: Humanist Themes in the Art of the Renaissance (1939), and his eponymous 1943 study of Albrecht Dürer. His work has greatly influenced the theory of taste developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in books such as The Rules of Art or Distinction. In particular, Bourdieu first adapted his notion of habitus from Panofsky's Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism.

Reviews

[Cerys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read the essay 'what is baroque?' might read the others later but it was really good and the ending was a bit mad considering panofsky's saying that the Renaissance didn't truly end until the industrial revolution and the rise of the machine which he predicts will be the decline of humanity and that it may potentially put an end to generations to come - which like it defo could. also interesting to talk about the true sense of humour and the invention of the caricature. who knew the baroque would actually be intensely interesting. Also saying that the true Renaissance is the whole period where man became more interesting than god, and it is now over because antihuman and artificial forces are now becoming more interesting than man and nature is a HOT TAKE. i didn't like panofsky before this essay but this essay genuinely is one of the most interesting texts i've ever read.

[Rafel Socias · Rating 5 out of 5]

El llibre aplega tres articles d'Erwin Panofsky sobre l'estil. Molt interessant, sobretot quan explica les influències de l'art anglès des de la conquesta normanda a partir del frontal dels Rolls Royce. Original i entretingut.

[lisaggi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto interessante l'inclusione di 3 argomenti così diversi all'interno del libro e molto interessante come, dall'arte inglese e dai giardini si arrivi alla Rolls Royce. Consigliato agli esperti ed agli appassionati d'arte e di discipline artistiche.