The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts

Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts
Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts
The French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is now recognized as a major contemporary critique of culture and the Visual Arts. His work was developed over a fifty year career which took in major studies of education, museums, photography, painting, the media and taste.
This book sets out to do what no other has so far achieved. It exclusively addresses Bourdieu’s work on the Visual Arts. Over its three parts and eight chapters it gives an in-depth coverage of Bourdieu’s theory of culture and aesthetics. It describes Bourdieu’s background and the development of his thinking throughout his career. His main ‘thinking tool’ are described and located within his overall ‘theory of practice’. There is discussion of aesthetics in terms of his social philosophy. A line is traced from Kant through salient views to aestheticism and its significance in art and culture. Bourdieu’s own response to this tradition is described.
This theory of practice is then applied to three practical case examples: Museums, Photography and Painting. A chapter is dedicated to each of these. In each one, a Bourdieusian perspective is brought to bear on contexts not dealt with by Bourdieu himself. There is analysis of the Tate, MOMA and the Musée d’Orsay. Photography is considered as a ‘mid-brow’ art with examples from pop, journalism and ‘artist-photographers’. Finally, the book deals with painting. Based on Bourdieu’s own work on the ‘pre-impressionist’ Manet, this example is contrasted with such artistic movements as the Young British Artists of the 1990s and American Expressionism.
Finally, the theory and practical examples are used as a springboard to address Visual Arts in the 21st Century. The ‘problem of aesthetics’ is reconsidered in the light of post-modernism and Bourdieu’s theory. A new perspective to the Visual Arts in the twenty-first century is provided based on his approach.
The book sets out to identify the ‘rules of art’: how artistic fields function and the implications their processes have for Art and artistic practice.
art, aesthetics, education, social capital, museums, painting, photography, Bourdieu
1845202341
Berg Publishers
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1
Hardy, Cheryl
ec1569ef-4aaa-423b-abab-237c3b0ff73c
Grenfell, Michael
3f1954ca-ee82-46df-bd31-0b6c9c390ab1
Hardy, Cheryl
ec1569ef-4aaa-423b-abab-237c3b0ff73c

Grenfell, Michael and Hardy, Cheryl (2007) Art Rules: Pierre Bourdieu and the Visual Arts , London, UK. Berg Publishers, 256pp.

Record type: Book

Abstract

The French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu is now recognized as a major contemporary critique of culture and the Visual Arts. His work was developed over a fifty year career which took in major studies of education, museums, photography, painting, the media and taste.
This book sets out to do what no other has so far achieved. It exclusively addresses Bourdieu’s work on the Visual Arts. Over its three parts and eight chapters it gives an in-depth coverage of Bourdieu’s theory of culture and aesthetics. It describes Bourdieu’s background and the development of his thinking throughout his career. His main ‘thinking tool’ are described and located within his overall ‘theory of practice’. There is discussion of aesthetics in terms of his social philosophy. A line is traced from Kant through salient views to aestheticism and its significance in art and culture. Bourdieu’s own response to this tradition is described.
This theory of practice is then applied to three practical case examples: Museums, Photography and Painting. A chapter is dedicated to each of these. In each one, a Bourdieusian perspective is brought to bear on contexts not dealt with by Bourdieu himself. There is analysis of the Tate, MOMA and the Musée d’Orsay. Photography is considered as a ‘mid-brow’ art with examples from pop, journalism and ‘artist-photographers’. Finally, the book deals with painting. Based on Bourdieu’s own work on the ‘pre-impressionist’ Manet, this example is contrasted with such artistic movements as the Young British Artists of the 1990s and American Expressionism.
Finally, the theory and practical examples are used as a springboard to address Visual Arts in the 21st Century. The ‘problem of aesthetics’ is reconsidered in the light of post-modernism and Bourdieu’s theory. A new perspective to the Visual Arts in the twenty-first century is provided based on his approach.
The book sets out to identify the ‘rules of art’: how artistic fields function and the implications their processes have for Art and artistic practice.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 2007
Keywords: art, aesthetics, education, social capital, museums, painting, photography, Bourdieu

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 43728
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/43728
ISBN: 1845202341
PURE UUID: e8106cb8-5657-4d0c-88a2-7e8462beeedb
ORCID for Michael Grenfell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2038-0317

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 30 Jan 2007
Last modified: 13 Dec 2023 02:32

Export record

Contributors

Author: Michael Grenfell ORCID iD
Author: Cheryl Hardy

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×