Art and the Sacred

by Wendy Beckett

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0712653961
• ISBN13: 9780712653961
• Release Date: December 1992
• Publisher: RH Canada UK Dist
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.8" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Delving into meaning

I bought this book because a college classmate's work is featured in it, and because I'm searching to better understand abstract expressionism and have found few allies in my attempts. I just couldn't "get it" with abstract expressionism and found most commentaries intellectually pretentious or rambling BS. Sister Wendy is different---a real ally! One thing that's nice about this book is the layout: each commentary is along side its reproduction on the facing page---wonderful for contemplation. I've even ended up using this book as a kind of daily "devotional."

A Book That Remains A Jewel

Sister Wendy Beckett has probably done more for bringing the great art of history and of contemporary times to the world through her highly acclaimed PBS series than any other single individual. As a contemplative nun she lived in solitude in a monastery in Norfolk, England, but her immense sensitivity to art was gained through her studies at Oxford University and from her numerous essays on specific artists and art movements. Her manner is simultaneously straight forward, comical, and inspiring. In this small but potent book she opens with a fine essay on 'Art and the Sacred', an examination of both paintings and their creators and the evidence that the 'sacred' can be found throughout art history. She celebrates the 'transforming power of art, a meditation on the presence of the divine in our everyday lives.' What follows the opening illustrated essay is a veritable treasure trove of 65 artists, each represented by one painting and on the opposing page a short essay by Beckett on the manner in which the sacred is manifest in that particular work. It is the scope of artists that makes this thesis so interesting. Here are works by Diebenkorn, Klee, Mondrian, Picasso, Rothko, Odd Nerdrum, Matisse, Helen Frankenthaler, Jasper Johns, Joan Mitchell, Jean Rustin, Stanley Spencer and other well known, established artists along side the inordinately beautiful works by lesser known but equally fine artists such as Sally Warner, Pia Stern, Yoko Shiraishi to name but a few. The color reproductions are excellent and the design of the book is elegant. This book may be difficult to find, but the search is more than worth the seeking. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, February 06