James Elkins

News:

Finally out, after 6 years of work: a textbook with Oxford Press, co-authored with Erna Fiorentini, called Visual Worlds.

The opening pages of my novel are now online with Place (lierary magazine in Brussels). More on the novel here.

Also in 2020: my summary of the state of art writing around the world, called The Impending Single History of Art: North Atlantic Art History and its Alternatives. To be published by de Gruyter.

Please use the contact form to schedule lectures, studio visits, or seminars. See Lectures page for my travel schedule.

Latest uploads:

The book Why Are Our Pictures Puzzles?; the book How to Use Your Eyes; and an essay on the complicity between torture and formal analysis. (There is also a website with reviews of contemporary piano music.)

Live Writing Projects:

I am experimenting with writing live on the internet. These texts update live, and you can contribute to them & be thanked when the book is published. (1) What is Interesting Writing in Art History?, (2) Writing with Images. Thanks everyone for contributing!

Writing »

Books, essays, and works in progress. Download samples.

Vita »

Brief biography, link to the full vita, and photographs.

Lectures »

Lecture topics, syllabi, and speaking schedule.

Social Media »

Contact form, site search, Facebook, etc.

Academic Books »

Art history, art theory and related subjects.

Trade Books »

General interest books.

Essays »

Independent essays. (For lectures, see the links above.)

Experimental Writing»

Unpublished texts, live writing, and first drafts.

Contact »

Contact form for lectures studio visits, and general comments.

Search »

Search all the texts on this site.

Travels »

A map of James Elkins's travels, and locations of visitors to this site.

Facebook, etc. »

Link to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Academia, ResearchGate, etc.


Why Art and Science Should be Allowed to Go Their Separate Ways

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 2648

An essay on reasons to mistrust claims that that (Western) artists have used science in their art, or that current art and science are linked.

What Does it Mean to be An Average Artist?

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 2441

An essay on the ordinary condition of most artists: being average, statistically normal, moderately successful--and not an outlier like Pollock.

Ten Reasons Why E.H. Gombrich Was Not an Art Historian

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 2371

A brief essay on E.H. Gombrich's relation to the discipline of art history, with reasons why he would not have considered himself an art historian.

There is No Such Thing as Outsider Art

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 17575

sublime-6.jpgThere is no such thing as "outsider art" because naive and untrained art has been a traditional accompaniment of modernism since its inception.

Against the Sublime

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 24723

sublime-6.jpgAn essay on the concept of the sublime in art, rehearsing the history of the postmodern sublime, and calling for a moratorium on its use.

Pictures and Tears

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 32621

A book about people who have had strong emotional reactions (including crying) looking at paintings, and about the relatively tearless twentieth century.

From Original to Copy and Back Again

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 16394

A brief essay on the sometimes overlooked continuum between the most original work and the most literal copy.

Art History and Computer-Generated Images

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 29163

An essay on the relation between Photoshop and the history of art, and a proposal for a book to be called The History of Photoshop.

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