Adrian Stokes (1902–1972) was a British painter and writer whose books on art have been allowed to go out of print despite their impact on Modernist culture and ongoing acclaim for their beauty and intellectual acuity. This new edition of The Quattro Cento and Stones of Rimini presents the original texts of 1932 and 1934 and furnishes them with introductions by David Carrier and Stephen Kite that will help readers grasp the structure and significance of what have become Stokes’s most widely-cited and influential books. 
Written as parts of an incomplete trilogy, The Quattro Cento and Stones of Rimini mark a crossroads in the transition from late Victorian to Modernist conceptions of art, especially sculpture and architecture. Stokes continued, even extended, John Ruskin’s and Walter Pater’s belief that art is essential to the individual’s proper psychological development but wove their teaching into a new aesthetic shaped by his experience of psychoanalysis with Melanie Klein and recent innovations in literature, dance, and the visual arts. 
Few writers have been able to invoke the material presence of works of art in the way Stokes does in The Quattro Cento and Stones of Rimini. They combine travel writing with acts of looking spun out so as to reinterpret the imposing legacy of the Italian Renaissance through an aesthetic of the direct carving of stone, which has parallels in the sculpture of Brancusi, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth but was for Stokes the discovery of artists in fifteenth-century Italy. To his way of thinking, there then arose a realization that the materials of art "were the actual objects of inspiration, the stocks for the deepest fantasies." During the Renaissance, Stokes maintained, stone accordingly "blossomed" into sculpture and buildings, such as the Tempio Malatestiano, that throw "inner ferment outward into definite act and thought." 
This new edition of Stokes’s pivotal books will be of interest to those concerned with art criticism, aesthetics, psychoanalysis and art, and the art and architecture of the Renaissance and Modern periods.

The Quattro Cento: and Stones of Rimini (British Art and Visual Culture Since 1750)

Arts & Photography

Stokes, Adrian

History & Criticism

Penn State University Press

Adrian Stokes was one of the twentieth century's finest and most discriminating writers on art. Of over twenty works of art criticism, Michelangelo was considered by Lawrence Gowing to be the most complete he ever wrote, presenting an understanding of the great artist that no one subsequently could afford to ignore. Stokes brings to bear in this work not only twenty-five years' study and appreciation of Italian Renaissance art and of aesthetics, but also a unique psychological perspective, as he explains in his introduction, which enables him to uncover the depths of the artist's personality. The subtlety of feeling and profound knowledge of sculpture which Sir Herbert Read admired in Stokes's work is also combined with a literary style perfected through his own poetry and criticism. Presenting a unique survey of his subject's literary as well as his artistic legacy, Stokes succeeds, as no other has before or since, in his aim of bringing Michelangelo's greatness into nearer view.

Michelangelo (Routledge Classics)

Routledge

The Invitation in Art

Chilmark Press

Critical Writings: v. 2

THAMES HUDSON LTD

The critical writings of Adrian Stokes, Vol. 3, 1955-1967

Thames and Hudson

Adrian Stokes (1902-1972) was a British painter and author whose writings on art have been allowed to go out of print despite their impact on modernism and ongoing acclaim. Tow of his most influential books, "The Quattro Cento" (1932) and "Stones of Rimini" (1934), are brought together in this volume, which includes all their original illustrations. The foreword and introduction place Stokes's works in the context of early 20th-century culture and discuss their structure and relevance to today's experience of art and architecture. The books reproduced here mark a crossroads in the transition from late-Victorian to modernist conceptions of art, especially sculpture and architecture. Stokes continued, even extended, John Ruskin's and Walter Peter's belief that art is essential to the individual's proper psychological development, but wove their teaching into a new aesthetic shaped by his analysis with Melanie Klein and recent innovations in literature, dance and the visual arts.

The Quattro Cento and Stones of Rimini: A Different Conception of the Italian Renaissance

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Ashgate Pub Ltd

This is a loving study of the building that celebrates the tyrant Sigismondo Malatesta's love for his Isotta.  To establish a firm basis for his keen analysis of Agostino di Duccio's low-relief carvings in the Tempio Malatestiana, the author goes beyond geology, meterology, and even art criticism itself.

Stones of Rimini

Schocken

With All the Views: Collected Poems

Literature & Fiction

Poetry

Littlehampton Book Services Ltd.

Adrian Stokes was one of the twentieth century's finest and most discriminating writers on art. Of over twenty works of art criticism, Michelangelo was considered by Lawrence Gowing to be the most complete he ever wrote, presenting an understanding of the great artist that no one subsequently could afford to ignore. Stokes brings to bear in this work not only twenty-five years' study and appreciation of Italian Renaissance art and of aesthetics, but also a unique psychological perspective, as he explains in his introduction, which enables him to uncover the depths of the artist's personality. The subtlety of feeling and profound knowledge of sculpture which Sir Herbert Read admired in Stokes's work is also combined with a literary style perfected through his own poetry and criticism. Presenting a unique survey of his subject's literary as well as his artistic legacy, Stokes succeeds, as no other has before or since, in his aim of bringing Michelangelo's greatness into nearer view.

Michelangelo: A study in the Nature of Art (Routledge Classics)

This title was first published in 2002. Adrian Stokes was a British painter and writer whose books on art have been allowed to go out of print despite their impact on Modernist culture. This new edition of The Quattro Cento and The Stones of Rimini presents the original texts of 1932 and 1934 and furnishes them with introductions by David Carrier and Stephen Kite that will help readers grasp the structure and significance of what have become Stokes' most widely cited and influential books. Written as parts of an incomplete trilogy, The Quattro Cento and The Stones of Rimini mark a crossroad in the transition from late Victorian to Modernist conceptions of art, especially sculpture and architecture. Stokes continued, even expanded, John Ruskin's and Walter Pater's belief that art is essential to the individual's proper psychological development but wove their teaching into a new aesthetic shaped by his experience of psychoanalysis and recent innovations in literature, dance, and the visual arts. This volume will be of interest to those concerned with art criticism, aesthetics and psychoanalysis, as well as the art and architecture of the Renaissance and Modern periods. Supported by the Henry Moore Foundation in memory of David Sylvester.

The Quattro Cento and Stones of Rimini: A Different Conception of the Italian Renaissance (Routledge Revivals)

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