{"product_id":"face-and-mask-hans-belting-9780691162355","title":"Face and Mask: A Double History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA cultural history of the face in Western art, ranging from portraiture in painting and photography to film, theater, and mass media\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThis fascinating book presents the first cultural history and anthropology of the face across centuries, continents, and media. Ranging from funerary masks and masks in drama to the figural work of contemporary artists including Cindy Sherman and Nam June Paik, renowned art historian Hans Belting emphasizes that while the face plays a critical role in human communication, it defies attempts at visual representation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBelting divides his book into three parts: faces as masks of the self, portraiture as a constantly evolving mask in Western culture, and the fate of the face in the age of mass media. Referencing a vast array of sources, Belting's insights draw on art history, philosophy, theories of visual culture, and cognitive science. He demonstrates that Western efforts to portray the face have repeatedly failed, even with the developments of new media such as photography and film, which promise ever-greater degrees of verisimilitude. In spite of sitting at the heart of human expression, the face resists possession, and creative endeavors to capture it inevitably result in masks--hollow signifiers of the humanity they're meant to embody. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom creations by Van Eyck and August Sander to works by Francis Bacon, Ingmar Bergman, and Chuck Close, \u003ci\u003eFace and Mask\u003c\/i\u003e takes a remarkable look at how, through the centuries, the physical visage has inspired and evaded artistic interpretation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Hans Belting\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691162352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691162355\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/28\/2017\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.80h x 6.80w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 09\/01\/2017","brand":"Hans Belting","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":43990267691263,"sku":"9780691162355","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_53af09b7-d66d-41e2-a948-323fc2421255.jpg?v=1683303885","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/face-and-mask-hans-belting-9780691162355","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}