Looking at Pictures Hardcover – 1961 by Kenneth Clark

No doubt there are many ways of looking at pictures, none of which can be called the right way. Those great accosts of the past who have left us their opinions on painting—Leonardo da Vinci, Dürer, Poussin, Reynolds, Delacroix—often gave reasons for their preferences, with which no living artist would agree; the same is true of the great critics—Vasari, Lomazzo, Ruskin, Batölaire. Yet they lived at a time when the standard of painting was higher than it is today, and they thought of criticism as a more exacting profession than do most contemporary critics. They admired, more or less, the same works of art; but in their criteria of judgement they differed from each other even more than the painters, who at least had in common certain technical problems. The once fashionable phrase 'he likes it for the wrong reasons' exposes not only arrogance, but ignorance of history. Condition - Dust jacket cover is edge-worn, rip on front, creases, scratch and scuff marks - Book cover is edge-worn, has stains - Front endsheets have tape residue, writing in pencil - Book binding is visible on some pages - Edge of pages are browning - Other pages appear to have no writing, highlighting, stains, rips, folded corners or missing pages - Tape residue on back endsheets Product details ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01IJ5A0TS Language ‏ : ‎ English Item weight ‏ : ‎ 458 g