Contents:
1. Classical Sociological Theory and the Sociology of Art 1.1 Marxism and Art History 1.2 Max Weber: art and cultural rationalisation 1.3 Georg Simmel: the aesthetics of social reality 1.4 Emile Durkheim: social structure, material culture and symbolic communication 2. The Social Production of Art 2.1 Raymond Williams: "Productive Forces", "From Reflection to meditation" 2.2 Howard Becker: "Art as Collective Action" 2.3 Pierre Boudiue: "But who created the creators?" 3. The Sociology of the Artist Commentary 3.1 A. Hauser: "The Social Status of the Renaissance Artist" 3.2 Natalie Heinich: "The Van Gogh Effect" 3.3 Norbert Elias: "Craftsman's art and artisits art" 3.4 David Brian: "Material agency and the art of artifacts" 4. Museums and the Social Construction of High Culture Commentary 4.1 Jurgen Habermas: "Art criticism and the institutions of the public sphere 4.2 Pierre Bourdieu: "Outline of a sociological theory or art perception" 4.3 Paul Di Maggio: "Cultural entrepreneurship in 19th century Boston: the creation of an organisational base for high culture in America" 4.4 Vera Zolberg: "Conflicting visions in American art museums" 5. Sociology, Aesthetic Form and the Specificity of Art 5.1 Karl Mannheim: "The Dynamics of spiritual realities" 5.2 Robert Witkin: "van Eyck through the looking glass: social structure, semiotic codes and the aesthetics of naturalism 5.3 Talcott Parsons: "Art as expressive symbolism: action theory and the sociology of art"

Provides students with an introduction to the fundamental theories and debates in the sociology of art, using extracts from the core foundational and most influential contemporary writers in the field.

The book is divided into five sections exploring key themes in the sociology and social history of art. These are:


- classical sociological theory and the sociology of art
- the social production of art
- the sociology of the artist
- museums and the social construction of high culture
- sociology aesthetic form and the specificity of art.

The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation, which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions about Greek art and its cultural and social implications.

The ancient Greeks developed their own very specific ethos of art appreciation, advocating a rational involvement with art. This book explores why the ancient Greeks started to write art history and how the writing of art history transformed the social functions of art in the Greek world. It looks at the invention of the genre of portraiture and the social uses to which portraits were put in the city state. Later chapters explore how artists sought to enhance their status by writing theoretical treatises and producing works of art intended for purely aesthetic contemplation, which ultimately gave rise to the writing of art history and to the development of art collecting. The study, which is illustrated throughout and draws on contemporary perspectives in the sociology of art, will prompt the student of classical art to rethink fundamental assumptions about Greek art and its cultural and social implications.

In the 1960s, art patron Dominique de Menil founded an image archive showing the ways that people of African descent have been represented in Western art. Highlights from her collection appeared in three large-format volumes that quickly became collector's items. A half-century later, Harvard University Press and the Du Bois Institute are proud to publish a complete set of ten sumptuous books, including new editions of the original volumes and two additional ones.

The new edition of "From the Pharaohs to the Fall of the Roman Empire" offers a comprehensive look at the fascinating and controversial subject of the representation of black people in the ancient world. Classic essays by distinguished scholars are aptly contextualized by Jeremy Tanner's new introduction, which guides the reader through enormous changes in the field in the wake of the "Black Athena" story.