1st Edition

Messerschmidt's Character Heads Maddening Sculpture and the Writing of Art History

By Michael Yonan Copyright 2018
    206 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    206 Pages 35 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    This book examines a famous series of sculptures by the German artist Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (1736–1783) known as his "Character Heads." These are busts of human heads, highly unconventional for their time, representing strange, often inexplicable facial expressions. Scholars have struggled to explain these works of art.  Some have said that Messerschmidt was insane, while others suggested that he tried to illustrate some sort of intellectual system. Michael Yonan argues that these sculptures are simultaneously explorations of art’s power and also critiques of the aesthetic limits that would be placed on that power.



    Table of Contents





    Introduction





    Part I: Writing the Artist’s Mind





    Introduction to Part I





    Chapter 1: Nicolai’s Dreamer





    Chapter 2: Kris’s Psychotic





    Part II: Writing the Artist’s Context





    Introduction to Part II





    Chaper 3: Mesmer’s Acolyte





    Chapter 4: Lichtenberg’s Ally





    Part III: Writing the Artist’s Project





    Introduction to Part III





    Chapter 5: The Game of Making





    Chapter 6: The Envy of the Gods





    Conclusion

    Biography

    Michael Yonan is associate professor of art history at the University of Missouri–Columbia, USA. He is a specialist in eighteenth-century European art and material culture.