Visual Theory: Painting and Interpretation

In recent years there has been a growing interest in problems of theory and method in the field of art history. Semiology, phenomenology, feminism, analytical philosophy and Marxism have all contributed to a lively debate among art historians and have helped to stimulate new research. This volume draws together some of the authors who have been most prominent and influential in recent methodological debates and enables them to develop their views. The contributions include Norman Bryson on semiology and the limits of meaning; Aruthur Danto on description and pictorial perception; Rosalind Krauss on the reception of recent French critical theory; Linda Nochlin on gender and power; Michael Podro on depiction; David Summers on image and metaphor; and Richard Wollheim on the role of the spectator. Each of these major contributions is critically discussed by a number of other scholars in the field.