The Art Of The Sacred. An Introduction To The Aesthetics Of Art And Belief

‘Wise฀insights฀relating฀art฀and฀religion฀reward฀the฀reader฀of฀Graham฀ Howes’฀fine฀work.฀His฀interdisciplinary฀integrity฀stems฀from฀a฀deeply฀ rooted฀study฀of฀both฀art฀and฀theology,฀which฀he฀reveals฀as฀twins.฀He฀ explores฀sources฀of฀creativity฀in฀a฀variety฀of฀successful฀collaborations฀from฀ Fra฀Angelico฀at฀San฀Marco฀to฀Moore฀at฀Northampton,฀Matisse฀at฀Vence,฀ Rothko฀at฀Houston,฀and฀Viola’s฀videos฀of฀The฀Passions฀and฀The฀Messenger.฀ Graham฀Howes฀helps฀us฀see฀how฀“faith฀lives฀from฀the฀particular”฀ incarnation,฀how฀concrete฀projects฀mediate฀the฀transcendent,฀and฀how฀we฀ may฀hope฀to฀hearten฀religion฀and฀art฀to฀inspire฀and฀to฀inform฀each฀other.’ Douglas฀G.฀Adams,฀Professor฀of฀Christianity฀฀ and฀the฀Arts,฀Pacific฀School฀of฀Religion฀ ‘Long฀involved,฀internationally,฀in฀the฀study฀of฀visual฀arts฀and฀religion,฀ Graham฀Howes฀has฀given฀us฀a฀book฀that฀only฀he฀could฀have฀written.฀ While฀providing฀a฀lucid฀overview฀of฀the฀multiple฀connections฀between฀ visual฀art฀and฀religious฀belief฀(or฀“the฀sacred”),฀he฀also฀supplies฀ fascinating฀case฀studies฀and฀attends฀to฀pertinent฀historical฀and฀theological฀ developments฀up฀to฀the฀present฀moment.฀It฀is฀hard฀to฀believe฀that฀Howes฀ can฀condense฀so฀much฀insight฀and฀valuable฀information฀into฀such฀a฀ relatively฀short฀book.฀The฀Art฀of฀the฀Sacred฀should฀not฀be฀missed฀by฀anyone฀ who฀wants฀to฀explore฀the฀topic฀intelligently,฀or฀get฀a฀real฀sense฀of฀the฀ importance฀(and฀complexity)฀of฀the฀issues.’ Frank฀Burch฀Brown,฀Frederick฀Doyle฀Kershner฀Professor฀of฀Religion฀ and฀the฀Arts,฀Christian฀Theological฀Seminary,฀Indianapolis ‘Now฀that฀many฀visitors฀to฀museums฀and฀galleries฀have฀so฀little฀knowledge฀ of฀the฀religious฀subjects฀painted฀by฀artists฀in฀the฀past,฀Graham฀Howes’฀ book฀is฀superbly฀well-timed.฀His฀illuminating฀introduction฀to฀the฀ aesthetics฀of฀art฀and฀belief฀will฀prove฀indispensable.฀Above฀all,฀he฀succeeds฀ in฀reminding฀us฀that฀great฀art฀is฀essentially฀an฀act฀of฀faith,฀Christian฀or฀ otherwise.’฀ Richard฀Cork,฀art฀critic,฀historian฀and฀broadcaster ‘John฀Ruskin฀threw฀down฀the฀gauntlet฀in฀Modern฀Painters,฀฀years฀ago:฀ “How฀far฀[has]฀Fine฀Art,฀in฀all฀or฀any฀ages฀of฀the฀world,฀been฀conducive฀ to฀the฀religious฀life.”฀Using฀this฀famous฀challenge฀as฀his฀starting฀point,฀ Graham฀Howes฀takes฀us฀on฀a฀multidisciplinary฀journey฀through฀the฀ changing฀relationship฀between฀aesthetic฀and฀religious฀experience฀mainly฀ in฀the฀Western฀Church฀tradition฀–฀though฀with฀applications฀beyond฀ –฀from฀historical,฀art฀historical฀and฀sociological฀perspectives,฀and฀with฀ the฀eye฀of฀a฀trained฀artist.฀He฀writes฀about฀a฀very฀complex฀web฀of฀ideas฀ in฀a฀refreshingly฀clear฀and฀no-nonsense฀way.฀Moreover,฀his฀selection฀of฀ illustrative฀case-studies฀(among฀them฀the฀mid-Victorians,฀the฀clerical฀ patronage฀of฀Walter฀Hussey,฀the฀work฀of฀Matisse฀and฀Rothko,฀Viola฀and฀ Gormley,฀and฀–฀for฀me฀the฀most฀fascinating฀–฀the฀public’s฀reaction฀to฀the฀ ‘Seeing฀Salvation’฀exhibition฀at฀London’s฀National฀Gallery฀in฀)฀is฀ both฀imaginative฀and฀apt.฀I฀will฀treasure฀for฀a฀long฀time฀his฀demolition฀of฀ fashionable฀assertions฀about฀‘the฀church฀as฀heritage฀centre’.฀The฀Art฀of฀the฀ Sacred฀is฀an฀excellent฀introduction฀to฀a฀surprisingly฀timely฀subject.’ Sir฀Christopher฀Frayling,฀Rector,฀Royal฀College฀of฀Art,฀London ‘Graham฀Howes฀provides฀an฀eminently฀civilised฀entry฀into฀the฀range฀ of฀relationships,฀historical฀and฀contempor