Product Description

Ad Reinhardt is probably best known for his black paintings, which aroused as much controversy as admiration in the American art world when they were first exhibited in the 1950s. Although his ideas about art and life were often at odds with those of his contemporaries, they prefigured the ascendance of minimalism. Reinhardt's interest in the Orient and in religion, his strong convictions about the value of abstraction, and his disgust with the commercialism of the art world are as fresh and valid today as they were when he first expressed them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #480749 in Books
• Published on: 1991-06-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 253 pages

Review
"Reinhardt . . . remains an urgently contemporary figure in art and the life of art. . . . He has already been a major subterranean influence in the generation of Minimal and Post-Minimal art . . . and seems ready for wide recognition as one of the most significant cultural figures of the past quarter- century." -- Peter Schjeldahl, New York Times Book Review

About the Author
Barbara Rose is the author of books on Joan Miro, Claes Oldenburg, Lee Krasner, and Ellsworth Kelly and has twice received the College Art Association's Mather Award for distinguished criticism.

Customer Reviews

Masterpiece of art writing
Ad Reinhardt was the epitome of the late modernist painter. He polished his craft and his concept until it was air tight and nearly impervious to criticism. Though we can deny that his paintings are the 'last paintings,' we cannot deny that they altered the course of modern art. Nor that they are sublime, spiritual, human accomplishments.

This writing shines a light in the darkness that is Ad Reinhardt. Though especially useful for a Reinhardt scholar or enthusiast, the writings will enlighten any painter or student of twentieth century art. How far can an artist go into the furnace of self discovery? How much of a painting is truth and how much seduction? Open these pages and discover the answers to these questions and many others.

"Dark within dark; the gateway to all understanding." Tao te ching.

Students of Ad Reinhardt only
This book will only be valuable to people interested in or studying the work of Ad Reinhardt. For this purpose, it is excellent. Rose's introductions are clear and concise, however, Reinhardt's writing itself tends to be esoteric and repetitive. For those who are interested in this era of American painting in general (primarily the 1950's) this probably won't be that helpful as Reinhardt's cryptic philosophies do not mimic most of his more famous contemporaries.