Overview

Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy was widely regarded as the pre-eminent art theorist of his day and exerted tremendous influence over the development of the arts in nineteenth-century France, publishing over twenty books over his career. Translated into English for the first time by Michel-Antoine Xhignesse, this 1837 treatise on imitation in the arts represents one of his major theoretical works. Quatremère de Quincy argues, against the prevailing opinion of the day, that artistic imitation aims at communicating the essence of the thing represented (ideal imitation), rather than merely faithfully reproducing its life appearance (real imitation). In order to communicate the essence, he argues, the artist must prioritize the contributions of her imagination over the choice and appearance of her model. This represented a significant departure from other accounts of ideal imitation, such as Batteux's or Winckelmann's, which instead advocated combining the best features of several different models.

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9781666967647

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""I've found that Quatremère de Quincy's writings provide an essential starting point to the origins of the public art museum. I am most pleased to see that thanks to this marvelously lucid translation--which is accompanied by a most instructive introduction placing him in historical context--that a seminal book by this very influential early modernist theorist is accessible to an English- speaking audience."" --David Carrier, author, Museum Skepticism: A History of the Display of Art in Public Galleries (2006) ""Quatremere de Quincy was the leading French aesthetician at the turn of the nineteenth century, but little of his work has ever been translated into English. Xhignesse's informative introduction and crystalline translation make's Quatremere's 1805 essay readily accessible. In this welcome addition to the literature of the history of aesthetics we can see how Quatremere reached back to the Greeks but also prepared the way for a modern emphasis on the imagination. A fascinating bridge between Classicism and Romanticism is thus revealed, one who should take his place alongside such giants as Winckelmann, Hegel, and Schopenhauer."" --Paul Guyer, Brown University & University of Pennsylvania ""This new book contributes to the essential task of restoring Quatremère de Quincy to a central place in the history of aesthetics, and does so in a unique fashion by focusing on one of Quatremère's lesser-known theoretical works, one that confirms Quatremère's place among the most philosophically artful of all nineteenth century art historians and aesthetic theorists. Michel-Antoine Xhignesse situates Quatremère's unique contribution within the context of then-current debates about the relative virtues of ""real"" or ""ideal"" imitation in artistic production. Quatremère's commitment to the moral and spiritual value of the visual arts rendered him a veritable metaphysician of aesthetics, as well as a consummate evangelist of Neoclassicism. This work also shows him as a theorist of the first rank. It makes an exemplary contribution to the history of art and ideas."" --Louis A. Ruprecht Jr., Georgia State University Quatremère de Quincy's treatise, On the Ideal in the Pictorial Arts, is not only interesting for its place in an important period of modern aesthetic theory, it reinvigorates familiar debates about beauty, creativity, and artistic freedom. Xhignesse's translation of the text is smooth and readable, and his indispensable introduction places this work in historical context. Michel Xhignesse is to be thanked for informing Anglophone philosophers of the works of a figure in the history of aesthetics that few know. --Carolyn Korsmeyer, University at Buffalo

Author Information

Michel-Antoine Xhignesse is instructor of philosophy at Capilano University.

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