Charles Townsend Harrison
Encyclopedia
Charles Townsend Harrison (11 February 1942 - 6 August 2009), BA Hons (Cantab), MA (Cantab), PhD (London)
was a prominent UK art historian who taught Art History
for many years and was Emeritus Professor of History and Theory of Art at the Open University
.
He was tutor in Art History, Open University, 1977-2005, Reader in Art History 1985-1994, Professor of the History & Theory of Art, 1994-2008, Professor Emeritus, 2008-2009; Visiting Professor, University of Chicago
1991 and 1996, Visiting Professor, University of Texas, 1997.
In addition to being an academic and art critic he was also a curator and a member of the Art & Language
Group. He curated the “ seminal exhibition” When Attitudes Become Form at the ICA
in 1969.
And as a member of Art & Language
, community of artists and critics who were its producers and users, he edited their journal Art-Language.
"The history of modern art in England.......is to a large extent a history of delayed and mediated responses."
On the value of art
"[V]ividness in representation must entail the reconciliation of technical concerns for expressive form and surface on the one hand with the requirements of realistic description on the other...the more the activity of art tends toward the pursuit of the one at the expense of the other, the smaller the value is to be attached to either.
was a prominent UK art historian who taught Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
for many years and was Emeritus Professor of History and Theory of Art at the Open University
Open University
The Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
.
He was tutor in Art History, Open University, 1977-2005, Reader in Art History 1985-1994, Professor of the History & Theory of Art, 1994-2008, Professor Emeritus, 2008-2009; Visiting Professor, University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
1991 and 1996, Visiting Professor, University of Texas, 1997.
In addition to being an academic and art critic he was also a curator and a member of the Art & Language
Art & Language
Art & Language is a shifting collaboration among conceptual artists that has undergone many changes since its inception in the late 1960s. Their early work, as well as their journal Art-Language, first published in 1969, is regarded as an important influence on much conceptual art both in the...
Group. He curated the “ seminal exhibition” When Attitudes Become Form at the ICA
ICA
- Business :* Empresas ICA , large construction company in Mexico* ICA AB, a Swedish corporate group in the food retail business, formerly named ICA Ahold AB....
in 1969.
And as a member of Art & Language
Art & Language
Art & Language is a shifting collaboration among conceptual artists that has undergone many changes since its inception in the late 1960s. Their early work, as well as their journal Art-Language, first published in 1969, is regarded as an important influence on much conceptual art both in the...
, community of artists and critics who were its producers and users, he edited their journal Art-Language.
Quotes
On English art"The history of modern art in England.......is to a large extent a history of delayed and mediated responses."
On the value of art
"[V]ividness in representation must entail the reconciliation of technical concerns for expressive form and surface on the one hand with the requirements of realistic description on the other...the more the activity of art tends toward the pursuit of the one at the expense of the other, the smaller the value is to be attached to either.
Publications
- Ben Nicholson: Catalogue of an Exhibition held at the Tate Gallery, with Ben Nicholson, Tate Gallery, 1969
- The British Avante Garde, with Donald H Karshan, London: Studio International, 1971
- Modern Art and Modernism: a Critical Anthology, with Francis Frascina & Deirdre Paul, Paul Chapman Publishing & The Open University, 1982
- A Provisional History of Art & Language, with Fred Orton, 1982
- Abstract Expressionism and Jackson Pollock, with Francis Frascina, Open University, 1983
- English Art and Modernism, Open University, 1983 & New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994
- Introduction, Modernism, Problems and Methods, Open University, 1984
- Modernism, Criticism and Realism: Alternative Contexts for Art, 1985
- Alfred Wallis, Christopher Wood, Ben Nicholson, with Margaret Gardiner, Alfred Wallis & Christopher Wood, Scottish Arts CouncilScottish Arts CouncilThe Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
, 1987 - A Quiet Revolution: British Sculpture Since 1965, with Graham Beal, Lynne Cooke & Mary Jane Jacob, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1987
- Art in Theory, 1900-90: Anthology, with Paul Wood, 1992
- Modernism in Dispute: Art Since the Forties, with Paul Wood, Francis Frascina & Jonathan Harris, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993
- Modernity and Modernism: French Painting in the Nineteenth Century, with Paul Wood, Francis Frascina & Jonathan Harris, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993
- Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: the Early Twentieth Century, with Francis Frascina & Gillian Perry, New Haven: Yale Univ Press, 1993
- Modernism (Movements in Modern Art series), Tate Publishing, 1997
- Art in Theory 1815-1900, with Paul Wood & Jason Gaiger, 1998
- Art in Theory 1648-1815, with Paul Wood & Jason Gaiger, 2000
- Modernismus, 2001
- 2001 Retrospective - Master Stone Sculptors of Zimbabwe, Chapungu Sculptures Ltd, 2001
- Blast to Freeze: British Art in the 20th Century, with Andrew Causey, Richard Cork, David Curtis, and Penelope Curtis, publ: Hatje Cantz; illustrated edition edition, 2002
- Essays on Art & Language, MIT Press, 2003
- Conceptual Art and Painting: Further Essays on Art & Language, MIT Press, 2003
- Art in Theory, 1900-2000: an Anthology of Changing Ideas, with Paul Wood, 2003
- Painting the Difference: Sex and Spectator in Modern Art, University of Chicago Press, 2005
- Slideshow, with Darsie Alexander & Robert Storr, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2005
- Art and Text, with Dave Beech, Will Hill & Aimee Selby, Black Dog Publishing, 2009
- An Introduction to Art, New Haven: Yale University Press; 2009
- Since 1950: Art and Its Criticism, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009