First published in 1951 Arnold Hausers commanding work presents an account of the development and meaning of art from its origins in the Stone Age through to the Film Age. Exploring the interaction between art and society, Hauser effectively details social and historical movements and sketches the frameworks in which visual art is produced.
This new edition provides an excellent introduction to the work of Arnold Hauser. In his general introduction to The Social History of Art, Jonathan Harris asseses the importance of the work for contemporary art history and visual culture. In addition, an introduction to each volume provides a synopsis of Hausers narrative and serves as a critical guide to the text, identifying major themes, trends and arguments.
Biography
Arnold Hauser was born in Hungary and studied literature and the history of art at the universities of Budapest, Vienna, Berlin and Paris. In 1921 he returned to Berlin to study economics and sociology under Ernst Troeltsch. From 1923 to 1938 he lived in Vienna where he began work on The Social History of Art. He lived in London from 1938 until 1977, when he returned to his native Hungary. He died in Budapest in 1978.
'Unrivalled in its scope and ambition, Arnold Hauser's classic study is a critical contribution to the development of the history of art as a discipline' - Alan Wallach, College of William and Mary
'Hauser's extraordinary energy and subtlety wave a brilliant synthesis of the interaction between the aesthetic and societal' - Albert Boime, UCLA, author of The Social History of Modern Art, 1750-1989
'This was and remains the only comprehensive scholarly synthesis of the history of art from the perspective of historical materialism. This edition should bring Hausers thought to the attention of a new generation of readers.' - Whitney Davis, Professor of Art History at Northwestern University
'Hauser's extraordinary energy and subtlety wave a brilliant synthesis of the interaction between the aesthetic and societal, giving us at one and the same time a wealth of artistic detail and a consistent and fully elaborated exposition of the social process.' - Albert Boime, UCLA, author of The Social History of Modern Art, 1750-1989
