Fictions of Art History

Edited by Mark Ledbury

With an introduction by Michael Hatt and Mark Ledbury and essays by Paul Barolsky, Thomas Crow, Gloria Kury, Mark Ledbury, Ralph Lieberman, Maria H. Loh, Alexander Nemerov, Joanna Scott, Cole Swensen, Marianna Torgovnick, Caroline Vout, and Marina Warner

Fictions of Art History addresses art history's complex relationships with fiction, poetry, and creative writing. Inspired by a 2010 conference, the volume examines art historians' viewing practices and modes of writing. How, the contributors ask, are we to unravel the supposed facts of history from the fictions constructed in works of art? How do art historians employ or resist devices of fiction, and what are the effects of those choices on the reader? In styles by turns witty, elliptical, and plain-speaking, the essays in Fictions of Art History are fascinating and provocative critical interventions in art history.

Mark Ledbury is Power Professor of Art History and Visual Culture and Director of the Power Institute at the University of Sydney.

256 pages
90 black-and-white illustrations
2013
ISBN 978-0-300-9192-9 (softcover)