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A Wonderful Review on ETA by Kurt Keefner

[Click cover above to go to its Amazon page.]

Kurt Keefner

5.0 out of 5 stars Art through the Eyes of an Artist

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2022

Evolution Through Art is a history of art, but it is also a psychology of art. It answers the question: What can art do for us? What makes it really special is that it treats art through the eyes of an artist. Michael Newberry has been a realist figurative painter for decades. He does a superb job of showing the reader how a facial expression was rendered or the importance of a shadow.

I would say that Newberry's central concept is the sublime. He discusses destructive versions of it that come from Edmund Burke and Immanuel Kant and offers his own positive version, the description of which is worth quoting at length:

"The experience of the sublime is to be looked for in art. Art integrates senses, emotions, and thought. The sublime in art elevates our sensory experience, heightens and taps our emotional potential, and furthers our knowledge. The sublime in art can give us a moral to the story, a stance towards living. At its best, the sublime in art inspires awe in our human potential and awakens our desire to evolve as a whole being and as a species."

Note he includes three key elements in his description: Integration, Elevation, and Awe. That seems to me to be a complete roster.

The Kindle version includes profuse illustrations of works ranging from the cave to the contemporary, each with insightful commentary. Those alone are worth having the book for, but I can heartily recommend consuming the whole work to gain a deeper appreciation of the role of art in human life.

The Manuscript for My Next Book is Done, Pandora’s Box and Other Essays. Now in the Copy Editing and Format Stage.

It has 62 art essays, 360 pages, with an excellent and healthy proportion of criticism to affirmative perspectives, 14 to 48 respectively. : ) The formating looks great for the text but I have to update all the images for print, an extraordinarily time-consuming job. Look for it in February 2022. There is no pre-order for paperback.

Cheers,

Michael, Idyllwild, January 16, 2022