What makes a person an artist? How do works of art and their very own, extraordinary style come into being? And how does the prominent painter view his own work? The world-famous painter Sean Scully met with the philosopher David Carrier for several in-depth interview sessions. Their conversations explore these and many more questions about Scully's life, work, and ideas. The result is a rich manuscript that very closely approaches the status of a valid autobiography. Scully provides personal insights into his life and the important sources of inspiration for his career. He discusses his own view of his entire oeuvre, of art history and his position within it. Thus, this text becomes a literal eye-opener for Scully's art, which can be (re)discovered through his words. SEAN SCULLY (*1945, Dublin) is one of the most famous artists of his generation. In addition to numerous exhibitions worldwide, he has been honored with important awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and Harckness Fellowship. DAVID CARRIER (*1944) is a philosopher and art critic. His contributions to art appear in ArtForum and ArtUS, among others. With this interview tape, he takes up an interest of his teacher Arthur C. Danto, whose texts on Scully were published by Hatje Cantz in 2015.

The acclaimed Irish American abstractionist discusses his artistic influences and philosophy with a leading aesthetic thinker In this volume, Irish American painter Sean Scully (born 1945) meets with American philosopher and art critic David Carrier for a series of in-depth interviews on the nature of art and the artist's relationship to his own work. An early job loading trucks at a cardboard factory inspired the stacked rectangle symbolism that would become the hallmark of his career; travels to Venice also greatly influenced his use of textured brushstrokes to evoke movement and flow even within carefully structured geometric patterns. Carrier probes these central elements of Scully's art along with many more questions about art history and Scully's own position within it. The assembling of such personal insights results in a book that functions as both a collection of compelling dialogues and an autobiography of Scully. Readers are able to discover Scully's art anew through his answers to Carrier's incisive questions.

DIVProminent art historian looks at the birth of the art museum and contemplates its future as a public institution./div

Taking the visual arts as its focus, this anthology explores aspects of cultural exchange between Ireland and the United States. Art historians from both sides of the Atlantic examine the work of artists, art critics and art promoters. Through a close study of selected paintings and sculptures, photography and exhibitions from the nineteenth century to the present, the depth of the relationship between the two countries, as well as its complexity, is revealed. The book is intended for all who are interested in Irish/American interconnectedness and will be of particular interest to scholars and students of art history, visual culture, history, Irish studies and American studies.

Everyone who looks at contemporary art is familiar with galleries. But visual features of these mysterious temples tend to be taken for granted. The basic purpose of this book is to enliven the reader’s latent knowledge of galleries, including architectural motifs, the intended impression that is conveyed to the visitor, and human interactions within them. The contemporary art world system includes artists’ studios, art galleries, homes of collec-tors and public art museums. To comprehend art, one needs to understand these settings and how it travels through them. The contemporary art gallery is a store where luxury goods are sold. What distinguishes it from stores selling other luxuries – upscale clothing, jewelry, and posh cars – is the nature of the merchandise. While much has been written about the art, this book uncovers the secretive culture of the galleries themselves. The gallery is the public site where art is first seen – anyone can come and look for free. This store, a commercial site, is where aesthetic judgments are made. Art’s value is determined in this marketplace by the consensus formed by public opinion, professional re-viewers and sales. The gallery, then, is the nexus of the enigmatic, billion dollar art world, and it is that space that is dissected here. The first chapter briefly describes the beginnings of the present contemporary art gallery. The second presents the experience of gallery going, presenting summary accounts of vis-its to some contemporary galleries. The third expands and extends that analysis, with de-tailed close up descriptions and comparative evaluations of many diverse contemporary galleries, in order to identify the challenges provided by these marvelous places. Then the fourth chapter indicates why, in the near future, due to the proliferation of myriad art fairs and online platforms extant today, such galleries might disappear altogether.

To stripe a surface serves to distinguish it, to point it out, to oppose it or associate it with another surface, and thus to classify it, to keep an eye on it, to verify it, even to censor it. Throughout the ages, the stripe has made its mark in mysterious ways. From prisoners' uniforms to tailored suits, a street sign to a set of sheets, Pablo Picasso to Saint Joseph, stripes have always made a bold statement. But the boundary that separates the good stripe from the bad is often blurred. Why, for instance, were stripes associated with the devil during the Middle Ages? How did stripes come to symbolize freedom and unity after the American and French revolutions? When did the stripe become a standard in men's fashion? "In the stripe," writes author Michel Pastoureau, "there is something that resists enclosure within systems." So before putting on that necktie or waving your country's flag, look to The Devil's Cloth for a colorful history of the stripe in all its variety, controversy, and connotation.

This deeply personal account of emotion and vulnerability draws upon anecdotes related to individual works of art to present a chronicle of how people have shown emotion before works of art in the past.