David Summers
Encyclopedia
David Summers is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Art Theory and Italian Renaissance Art at the University of Virginia
. He holds a B.A. from Brown University
(1963) and a Ph.D. from Yale University
(1969). He taught at Bryn Mawr College
and the University of Pittsburgh
before accepting an appointment to the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Virginia in 1981. In 1984, he was appointed William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the History of Art. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
in 1996.
Summers is generally regarded as an expert on Renaissance art and a notable figure in the field of art historical research. Amongst his main contributions to art history is the influential book Real Spaces
.
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. He holds a B.A. from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
(1963) and a Ph.D. from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(1969). He taught at Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
and the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
before accepting an appointment to the Center for Advanced Studies at the University of Virginia in 1981. In 1984, he was appointed William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of the History of Art. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
in 1996.
Summers is generally regarded as an expert on Renaissance art and a notable figure in the field of art historical research. Amongst his main contributions to art history is the influential book Real Spaces
Real Spaces
Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism is an influential non-fiction book by art historian David Summers, who aims to reconcile Western art history to artistic cultural production around the world from all time periods....
.
Select list of Summers' publications
- Michelangelo and the Language of Art, Princeton: Princeton University Press 1981.
- The Judgment of Sense: Renaissance Naturalism and the Rise of Aesthetics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1987.
- Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western ModernismReal SpacesReal Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western Modernism is an influential non-fiction book by art historian David Summers, who aims to reconcile Western art history to artistic cultural production around the world from all time periods....
, London: Phaidon 2003. - Vision, Reflection, and Desire in Western Painting, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 2007.