Illustrating Shakespeare

Peter Whitfield

ISBN 10: 0712358897 / ISBN 13: 9780712358897

Verlag: British Library Publishing, United Kingdom, London, 2013

Beschreibung

Artists have been drawn to the plays of Shakespeare for more than three centuries. For the artist, the challenge was to re-create the characters and the drama not on the living stage, but to freeze them into images that were timeless, and not bound within the walls of a theatre. Painters as varied as Hogarth, Blake, Fuseli, West, Delacroix, Millais and Waterhouse produced works of art which have strongly influenced our mental image of the plays. Other less-known artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries produced magnificent illustrated editions of Shakespeare's works, which functioned as private theatres, enabling readers at home to re-create the plays in their own imagination. This book shows how some artists succeeded in capturing the psychological truth of the dramas, while others merely dressed them up to suit the taste of their time. In this respect of course, the history of Shakespearean art exactly resembles that of Shakespearean theatre production; but where the theatre is ephemeral, the artistic tradition has become the rich and permanent legacy displayed in this fascinating book. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers GOR007299185

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: Illustrating Shakespeare
• Verlag: British Library Publishing, United Kingdom, London
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2013
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 0712358897
• ISBN-13: 9780712358897
• Einband: Paperback
• Zustand: Very Good
• Gewicht: 939 Gramm

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe

Artists have been drawn to the plays of Shakespeare for more than three centuries. For the artist, the challenge was to re-create the characters and the drama not on the living stage, but to freeze them into images that were timeless, and not bound within the walls of a theatre. Painters as varied as Hogarth, Blake, Fuseli, West, Delacroix, Millais and Waterhouse produced works of art which have strongly influenced our mental image of the plays. Other less-known artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries produced magnificent illustrated editions of Shakespeare's works, which functioned as private theatres, enabling readers at home to re-create the plays in their own imagination. This book shows how some artists succeeded in capturing the psychological truth of the dramas, while others merely dressed them up to suit the taste of their time. In this respect of course, the history of Shakespearean art exactly resembles that of Shakespearean theatre production; but where the theatre is ephemeral, the artistic tradition has become the rich and permanent legacy displayed in this fascinating book.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Peter Whitfield is the author of 20 books on history, poetry and literary criticism, including The Image of the World: 20 Centuries of World Maps (2010), A Shakespeare Handbook (2012) and Travel: A Literary History (2012).