Beyond Vision: Essays on the Perception of Art

by Pavel Florensky, Nicoletta Misler (Editor)

Beyond Vision is the first English-language collection of essays on art by the Russian polymath Pavel Florensky (1882_1937), with two introductory essays by the editor and an extensive bibliography. Florensky_s reputation as a theologian and philosopher is already established in the English-speaking world. This first collection in English of his art essays will be a revelation to those in the field. Pavel Florensky, a brilliant writer, mathematician, theologian, scientist, and art historian was condemned to a Siberian labor camp in 1933, and executed four years later. Nicoletta Misler is Professor in the Department of Eastern European Studies at the Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples. Wendy Salmond is head of the Art History program at Chapman University, Orange, California.

Genres: Art, Philosophy, Theology, Religion, Essays

256 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Pavel Alexandrovich Florensky (also P.A. Florenskiĭ, Florenskii, Florenskij, Russian: Па́вел Алекса́ндрович Флоре́нский) was a Russian Orthodox theologian, philosopher, mathematician, electrical engineer, inventor and Neomartyr, sometimes compared by his followers to Leonardo da Vinci.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Fl...

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

"When the certainty of theocentrism becomes suspect...then begins the attempt to replace realities that are growing muddied and obscured with simulacra and phantoms, to replace theurgy with illusionistic art, to replace divine actions with theatre."

[Paul H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So the greatest theologian of the twentieth century (by far) also happened to be an engineer, mathematician, botanist, linguist, philosopher, and art historian. Sadly most of Florensky's work has not yet been translated into English (though I've slogged through a fair amount in German, where he's been reasonably popular since the 1980s), but thankfully this collection manages to pull together his most well-known essays on art. Given that it's Florensky, these essays are almost comically dense and digressive, but every single one of them is very impressive. (Incidentally, I have a PDF version of the book -- it's out of print and quite expensive -- feel free to message me if interested.)

[Kim Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting series of essays related to how we view the role of museums, the theory of perspective and its shortcomings when it comes to portraying "realism" as well as many other art related themes. Despite the fact it was written int eh early 20th century, his words are as thought provoking and relevant today as they were then. Many very involved concepts related to the art world are nonetheless presented in a way that is engaging and understandable by both art experts and novices alike.