Mr. Collier's Letter Racks - A Tale of Art and Illusion at the Threshold of the Modern Information Age (Hardcover, New)

For 300 years, a unique and complex artistic puzzle has been hidden, the solution of which reveals an extraordinary critique of what can be described as the first modern media revolution. The mind behind this puzzle was a Dutch/British still-life painter named Edward Collier. Working around 1700, Collier has been neglected, even forgotten, precisely because his secret messages have never been noticed, let alone understood. Until now. In this book, Dror Wahrman recovers the tale of an extraordinary illusionist artist who engaged in a wholly original way with a major transformation of his generation: an unprecedented explosion in cheap print - newspapers, pamphlets, informational publications, artistic prints - that was produced for immediate release and far-flung circulation faster and in larger quantities that ever before. Edward Collier developed a secret language within his still-life paintings - replete with minutely coded messages, witty games, intricate allusions, and private jokes - in order to draw attention to the potential and the pitfalls of this new information age, uncannily prefiguring the modern perspectives of the media-savvy 21st century. This heretofore obscure artist embedded in his paintings an ingenious commentary on the media revolution of his period, on the birth of modern politics, and on art itself.

General

Imprint:	Oxford UniversityPress
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	November 2012
First published:	September 2012
Authors:	Dror Wahrman (Ruth N. Halls Professor of History)
Dimensions:	242 x 166 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	288
Edition:	New
ISBN-13:	978-0-19-973886-1
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > History of art / art & design styles > 1600 to 1800 > General Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Painting & paintings > General Books > Arts & Architecture > Art forms, treatments & subjects > Art treatments & subjects > Individual artists > General Promotions
LSN:	0-19-973886-6
Barcode:	9780199738861

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