This book establishes a fresh and expansive view of the grotesque in Western art and culture, from 1500 to the present day. Following the non-linear evolution of the grotesque, Frances S. Connelly analyzes key works, situating them within their immediate social and cultural contexts, as well as their place in the historical tradition. By taking a long historical view, the book reveals the grotesque to be a complex and continuous tradition comprising several distinct strands: the ornamental, the carnivalesque and caricatural, the traumatic and the profound. The book articulates a model for understanding the grotesque as a rupture of cultural boundaries that compromises and contradicts accepted realities. Connelly demonstrates that the grotesque is more than a style, genre or subject; it is a cultural phenomenon engaging the central concerns of the humanistic debate today. Hybrid, ambivalent and changeful, the grotesque is a shaping force in the modern era.
• New insights into well-known artists including Bruegel, Caravaggio, Picasso and Klee and introductions to many lesser-known artists • Considers the range of expressions of the grotesque, including the arabesque, capriccio, caricatural, uncanny, demonic, abject and carnivalesque • Demonstrates the engagement of the grotesque with concerns central to humanistic debate, including representations of the body, gender, race and high and low culture
Contents
1. Introduction: entering the Spielraum; 2. Improvisation I: grottesche; 3. Improvisation II: arabesques; 4. Subversion: the carnivalesque body; 5. Trauma: the failure of representation; 6. Revelation: profound play.
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