Enduring Creation: Art, Pain, and Fortitude

by Nigel Spivey

Why has such an apparently unpleasant subject such as pain preoccupied artists of every age? Nigel Spivey explores this question in a perceptive and eloquent exposition that ranges from the Christian martyrs to Munch's seminal The Scream and the horrors of the Holocaust. Enduring Creation triggers and explores in depth a host of complicated questions surrounding the motivations of artists and the psychology of our response. Can pain be beautiful? Do we always pity suffering? Is there a link between sainthood and sado-masochism? The result is a brilliantly innovative work of cultural history, and one of those rare books that makes the past come alive by creating a persistent sense that it is of pressing relevance today.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2001

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most entertaining and informative art history book I've read. The style is dry and witty. Completely different to the standard works, which seem plodding and pedantic in comparison.