What is a Masterpiece Author:Kenneth Clark It is a cliche of modern criticism that masterpieces do not exist, that it is all a matter of fashion, social relevance, or personal taste. Lord Clark is not tempted by cliches. For him the frescoes of Giotto, the great works of Renaissance Italy and Flanders, the portraits of Rembrandt, and Rubens's altarpieces represent achievements of the hum... more »an spirit that are real, permanent, and endlessly rewarding. To say why they have these qualities is more difficult-the subject must be serious and capable of moving us emotionally; form and content must exactly correspond; but beyond that there must be the indefinable touch of genius that cannot be analyzed. In this book, Lord Clark returns to some of the challenging issues that he treated in Civilisation, the immensely popular book and television series.
All too often the scholar's concentration on detail leads him to forget the really important questions. But "What Is a Masterpiece?" is the most important question that any lover of art can ask.
Kenneth Clark is well known to American audiences as author of numerous books including The Nude (1967) and Animals and Men (1977).
On the cover: Rembrandt's The Night Ulc1tch (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) Printed in the U.S.A.« less