The Arts
Caspar David Friedrich and Visual Romanticism
Examines four paintings by Friedrich (plus one by Theodor Kittelsen), analyzes them by means of a new concept Mr. Boeckmann calls design-theme, and integrates them under the concept of “visual romanticism,” thus going a distance toward objectively defining that school. (The article is accompanied by five color images of the paintings discussed.) Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
The Exalted Heroism of Alistair MacLean’s Novels
Surveys MacLean’s major works (including The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare); indicates their value to readers who love men of intelligence, ability, and courage; and incites a keyboard stampede to Amazon.com for the used copies of MacLean’s books, which are tragically out of print. Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
Transfiguring the Novel: The Literary Revolution in Atlas Shrugged
Celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Ayn Rand’s magnum opus (which was published on October 10, 1957) by examining key aspects of the book’s artistic elements. Focusing on Rand’s dramatization of the plot-theme, her use of literary techniques, and the nature and significance of key figures in the story, Bernstein shows how Rand employed such elements to tap the full potential of this supremely conceptual art form and thus to create a thoroughly integrated novel. Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
How to Analyze and Appreciate Paintings
Provides a step-by-step method for viewing, assessing, and enjoying this rich visual medium. The article is accompanied by fifteen images of the paintings discussed, some of which are a feast, others of which are a foil. (As always larger images of the paintings can be viewed at our website.) Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
Mr. Jekyll and Dr. House:
The Reason-Emotion Split as Manifested in House, M.D.
Examines the popular television series House, M.D., zeros in on its main flaw—acceptance of the reason-emotion dichotomy and all that it entails—and shows why this potentially excellent show is tragically mixed. Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
19th-Century French Painting and Philosophy
Examines the relationship between art and fundamental philosophic ideas by considering the Kantian notion that man cannot know reality by means of reason—a notion that became increasingly prevalent over the course of the 1800s—in connection with the works and words of 19th-century French painters and art critics, who, correspondingly, became increasingly hostile to reason over the same period. The article is accompanied by fifty-eight color images of the paintings discussed, which range from the sublime to the grotesque. Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
Getting More Enjoyment from Art You Love
Examines two equestrian sculptures—George Washington, by Henry Kirke Brown, and the Cid, by Anna Hyatt Huntington—and demonstrates a method by which to approach such works in order to reap the most enjoyment from them. Read the opening paragraphs (full article accessible to subscribers).
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