James Elkins

News:

Finally out, after 6 years of work: a textbook with Oxford Press, co-authored with Erna Fiorentini, called Visual Worlds.

The opening pages of my novel are now online with Place (lierary magazine in Brussels). More on the novel here.

Also in 2020: my summary of the state of art writing around the world, called The Impending Single History of Art: North Atlantic Art History and its Alternatives. To be published by de Gruyter.

Please use the contact form to schedule lectures, studio visits, or seminars. See Lectures page for my travel schedule.

Latest uploads:

The book Why Are Our Pictures Puzzles?; the book How to Use Your Eyes; and an essay on the complicity between torture and formal analysis. (There is also a website with reviews of contemporary piano music.)

Live Writing Projects:

I am experimenting with writing live on the internet. These texts update live, and you can contribute to them & be thanked when the book is published. (1) What is Interesting Writing in Art History?, (2) Writing with Images. Thanks everyone for contributing!

Writing »

Books, essays, and works in progress. Download samples.

Vita »

Brief biography, link to the full vita, and photographs.

Lectures »

Lecture topics, syllabi, and speaking schedule.

Social Media »

Contact form, site search, Facebook, etc.

Academic Books »

Art history, art theory and related subjects.

Trade Books »

General interest books.

Essays »

Independent essays. (For lectures, see the links above.)

Experimental Writing»

Unpublished texts, live writing, and first drafts.

Contact »

Contact form for lectures studio visits, and general comments.

Search »

Search all the texts on this site.

Travels »

A map of James Elkins's travels, and locations of visitors to this site.

Facebook, etc. »

Link to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Academia, ResearchGate, etc.


On the Impossibility of Close Reading

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 14501

The idea of close reading is fundamental in art history and literary criticism. This essay is about the coherence of the idea in art history and in some archaeology.

The Art Seminar series

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 37236

A series of seven books, intended as barometers of the current state of art theory on seven different subjects. This site includes the Series Preface and Series Afterword.

Art Criticism (encyclopedia entry)

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 16133

Art Criticism (an encyclopedia entry, written for the Grove Dictionary of Art, and interestingly censored by them). It's a survey of major theories of art criticism.

Anthologies in Russian, Spanish, German

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 10248

Three anthologies are planned, in Russian, Spanish, and German. Links will be added here as the books appear.

Art History as a Global Discipline

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 20250

Is "art history" the name of a discipline, or an area of interest, that is practiced throughout the world? Or is it a Western interest, currently spreading along with capitalism?

What Painting Is

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 68574

A book about the hypnotic attraction of oil and tempera: why painters love paint, even before the painting is half-finished.

Master Narratives and Their Discontents

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 21011

A book on the principal theories of modernism and postmodernism, considered in terms of how they divide up the past two centuries.

Visual Practices Across the University

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Parent Category: Writing
Hits: 19614

A book about the kinds of images that are made and studied throughout the university, not just in the arts and humanities.

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