"Transgressions in the first book to address this controversial subject. Anthony Julius traces its history from the outraged response to Manet's Le Dejeuner l'Herbe to the scandal caused by the Royal Academy's Sensation exhibition a century and a half later. Throughout the book supported by the work of such artists as Marcel Duchamp, the Chapman brothers, Andres Serrano, Damien Hirst, Gilbert & George, Paul McCarthy, Jeff Koons, Hans Haacke and Aneselm Kieler, Julius shows how the modern period has been characterized by three kinds of transgressive art: an art that perverts established art rules; an art that defiles the beliefs and sentiments of its audience; and an art that challenges and disobeys the rules of the state."--BOOK JACKET.