In this ground-breaking book; a theory of rsquo;distortionrsquo; - of the way in which the processes of human life are subject to interference; diversion and transformation - is developed by way of the art of one of Britainrsquo;s greatest twentieth-century painters and that artrsquo;s public reception. Devoted to his native village of Cookham-on-Thames; Stanley Spencer painted not only landscapes and portraits with loving detail but also the rsquo;memory-feelingsrsquo; which he felt were a rsquo;sacredrsquo; part of his consciousness. Yet Spencer was also a controversial public figure; with some taking the view that his visionary paintings were ugly distortions of human life; even marks of an immoral nature. Examining how Spencer lived his vision; how he painted it and wrote it; and also how his attempts to communicate that vision were received by his contemporaries and have continued to be interpreted since his death; the author posits distortion as key: an intrinsic aspect both of human creation and of human interaction. What we intend to make; to say; to do and have done; often mutates in the process of being expressed or put into effect: we live amid distortion. Love - the affective appreciation of one another - is then a means by which we accommodate distortion and its consequences in our lives. An illustration; through Stanley Spencerrsquo;s story; of significant aspects of a human condition; this book will appeal across disciplines; including to art historians and students of Spencerrsquo;s work; as well as to scholars of anthropology with interests in creativity; perception and interpretation.
#3460688 in eBooks 2016-07-05 2016-07-05File Name: B01HZPVUMO
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