An edition of Painting by numbers (1997)

Painting by Numbers

Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art

  • 0 Ratings
  • 0 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read
Not in Library

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today

  • 0 Ratings
  • 0 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

Buy this book

Last edited by MARC Bot
July 30, 2019 | History
An edition of Painting by numbers (1997)

Painting by Numbers

Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art

  • 0 Ratings
  • 0 Want to read
  • 0 Currently reading
  • 0 Have read

Beginning on December 10, 1993, trained professionals, working from a central, monitored location in Indiana on behalf of the Russian conceptual art team of Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, telephoned Americans to find out what they want in art--fine art, specifically painting. For eleven days the survey continued, as people throughout the forty-eight contiguous states pondered: soft curves or sharp angles? brushstrokes or smooth surfaces? "realistic-looking" or "different looking"? serious or festive? ...

What is beauty? Who defines it? And why is high art so remote from most people? The Russian emigre art team of Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid takes on not only the billion-dollar American art industry but also capitalism's most venerated tool: the market research poll. With the help of a professional polling firm, they discovered that what Americans want in art, regardless of class, race, or gender, is exactly what the art world disdains - a tranquil, realistic blue landscape.

Painting by Numbers includes the original questionnaire and reproductions of the "most wanted" and "most unwanted" paintings the artists made based on American survey results and on polls they exported to nine other countries - including Russia, China, France, and Kenya - representing almost one-third of the world's population.

Essays by JoAnn Wypijewski and noted art critic Arthur Danto, as well as an interview with the artists, explore the crisis of modernism, the cultural meaning of polls, the significance of landscape, and the commodification of just about everything.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
203

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Painting by numbers
Painting by numbers: Komar and Melamid's scientific guide to art
1997, Farrar Straus Giroux
in English
Cover of: Painting by Numbers
Painting by Numbers: Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art
November 1997, Farrar Straus & Giroux (T)
in English

Add another edition?

Book Details


ID Numbers

Open Library
OL7423241M
ISBN 10
0374228809
ISBN 13
9780374228804
Library Thing
80480
Goodreads
641602

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

This work does not appear on any lists.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
July 30, 2019 Edited by MARC Bot associate edition with work OL18299308W
August 5, 2010 Edited by IdentifierBot added LibraryThing ID
April 24, 2010 Edited by Open Library Bot Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs.
April 16, 2010 Edited by bgimpertBot Added goodreads ID.
April 29, 2008 Created by an anonymous user Imported from amazon.com record