Joseph A. Kestner

Being a close critical examination of antifeminist, gynophobic, and misogynistic images and themes in the neo-classicism which dominated English studio painting at the turn of the last century. The publisher is to be applauded for releasing this book soon after the masterful Idols of perversity, by Bram Dijkstra, which treats of the same theme and has always been considered exhaustive. Kestner's book contains slightly different emphases; he does far more psychoanalyzing of the artists, explores their personal lives more, and, especially, looks for socio-political implications of (and causes for) the art. Kestner is not quite the stylist that Dijkstra is--neither is anybody else, come to that--as he occasionally lapses into presenting long lists of painters, paintings, or mythological subjects which should have been relegated to appendices. However, Kestner also casts his net a little wider (I particularly loved the chapter which describes the quick fade of the classical tradition in the years after World War I) and his insights are worthwhile.
The only real shortcoming of the book is its production; although books of this ilk which emphasize abstract criticism are not meant to be coffee-table books with large and impressive reproductions of the art to be wowed over, these reproductions are often too small and blurry to illustrate Kestner's points. They also are not integrated with the text, necessitating considerable flipping around. Withal, this is one of the very best books around.… (altro)