The Companion provides an accessible critical survey of Western visual art theory from sources in Classical, Medieval and Renaissance thought through to contemporary writings.
Paul Smith is an academic and cultural critic. He holds a B.A. in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge and a Ph.D in American Studies from the University of Kent. He is currently Professor of Cultural Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. His work covers many of the central themes of cultural studies, including feminism and gender studies, film studies, globalization and Marxist cultural criticism. He is on the Executive Committee of the Cultural Studies Association and was president of the Marxist Literary Group from 1988-1997.