But the Chelsea Hotel, from its very inception, was different. Auden, Carson McCullers, Jane and Paul Bowles, Benjamin Britten, and Gypsy Rose Lee, Under One Roof In Wartime America, 2005).
Turn-of-the century New York did not lack either hotels or apartment buildings, writes Tippins ( February House: The Story of W. (38 b&w illustrations)Ī revealing biography of the fabled Manhattan hotel, in which generations of artists and writers found a haven. Armstrong draws upon a range of literary, philosophical, and historical sources to bolster his argument, marshalling support at appropriate moments in the narrative.Ī splendid, unhurried walk through the broad corridors of Western art. At such moments, the author distinguishes himself with a sharp eye and careful prose, as he does in his chapter on contemplation (which neatly introduces the five classical aspects of perceptual contemplation). Armstrong is at his best when taking us through, detail by detail, paintings by Bellbottom or Claude, in which the reader becomes the viewer and is rewarded by close looking. The means to apprehend the information that will allow us to appreciate the subtle but significant differences between, for example, the Roman churches of Santa Susanna and Santa Catering de’ Funfair begins in looking, attempting to put pieces of visual information together: through an examination of detail, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its oft-overlooked parts. Attention is the key to unlocking the treasures of appreciation, attention fed by information. You are not here long,” which neatly summarizes Armstrong’s main argument. Walker Evans once said, “Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. And so he offers himself as a guide to looking, in an attempt to give viewers new eyes with which to see art-an ambition consistent with all good criticism.
of London) makes an impassioned argument for the utility of art and the means by which those alienated by aesthetics may approach painting, sculpture, and architecture.Īrmstrong believes that most modern viewers would find one of Whistler’s “Nocturnes” about as accessible to their cultural sensibilities as, say, Beowulf.
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