Book Review: Pictures & Tears: A History of People Crying in Front of Paintings by James Elkins (2001)
“Experimental” is a term ubiquitous across the cultural landscape: art, architecture, novels, cinema, television, music, performance, theater, etc. However, the same can be said of academia, to which Pictures & Tears: A History of People Crying in Front of Paintings aptly fits this niche category thanks to its author Dr. James Elkins, the E.C. Chadbourne Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Elkins’s book investigates how paintings wield the ability to evoke the most powerfully raw emotions from viewers who participate in careful close looking. Additionally, his publication offers insights into another topic that is seldom discussed in Art History: why is it that art historians are less inclined to exhibit any overt emotional reactions to an artwork compared to individuals outside of the field? Pictures & Tears is an experimental text because it privileges an emotional Art History over an intellectual one, and he accomplishes this through in-depth analysis of individual paintings, personal anecdotes (both by Elkins and letters from art historians & non-art historians), and self-critical reflections of Art History as an academic discipline.?
The act of crying is the principle emotional response that Elkins explores simply because, as he succinctly explains, “tears are the best visible evidence that a person has been deeply moved.” Early on, Elkins makes it clear that crying cannot easily be explained with a predetermined list of feelings like awe, shock, sadness, or disgust. The chapters are structured around select paintings and the types of responses they elicit from a particular individual, followed by analytical reflections on what these encounters reveal about the emotive power of painting. The variety of responses alone signifies the level of intensities that can result from a person’s private engagement with paintings of any kind, including: hypersensitive and nauseating feelings of Stendhal Syndrome before Tintoretto and other Italian Renaissance & Baroque masters, sudden gush of tears before a contemplative Caspar David Friedrich Romantic landscape, or quasi-religious experiences before the starkly imposing abstract paintings that line the? Rothko Chapel. Elkins purposefully selected viewers’ responses to paintings as opposed to other artistic mediums given the longevity of recorded examples of people who wept before painted works.?
Although not a history book in the chronological sense, Elkins provides ample references from history that shed light on instances when paintings not only brought viewers to tears, but crying itself was considered a socially acceptable behavior in educational and cultural pursuits, from Ancient Greece to Enlightenment France. He presents a compelling argument that 20th Century art, intellectualism, and culture may have contributed to a “dryness” in which crying before an artwork is deemed inappropriate or unsophisticated. Even more so, he posits that “virtually all academics [art historians] are in the tearless camp.” He daringly evaluates a seemingly unwritten rule among art historians: the prohibition and discouragement of any semblance of emotional or affective resonances with artworks that could impinge on serious scholarship. Most of the participants who willingly shared stories of crying in front of paintings were from individuals outside of Art History, with a few exceptions. Elkins includes brief responses from anonymous and named art historians who present their own perspectives on why crying and emotional expressions more broadly have no place in academia; excerpts from a letter by respected art historian Ernst Gombrich (1909 - 2001) are cited in which he discusses his counter position.?
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While the book deals with a subject that is arguably taboo in Art History, Pictures & Tears is not anti-scholastic, for it seeks to open up a new discourse that begs the question of why one’s emotions cannot enhance or complement the intellectual study of Art History, be it the student of the discipline or the avid museumgoer. Elkins’s potent writing perfectly blends an acerbic wit with scholastic musings that weigh a plenitude of social, artistic, psychological, philosophical, and spiritual contexts that aid in better understanding the phenomenon of crying in front of art.
Pictures & Tears is not the standard Art History book, which is precisely what makes it such a fascinating read. It successfully embodies what an experimental Art History book should contain: it is academic, not pedantic; it employs traditional art historical methodologies in tandem with personal philosophical ponderings; and, perhaps most importantly, it prioritizes an individualized, one-on-one, tabula rasa engagement with paintings prior to exploring their deeper meanings and histories. While he laments the lack of emotional resonance among contemporary audiences - both within and outside of academia - there is hope, as Elkins outlines a memorably strategic approach for all art enthusiasts to develop a far more emotionally intimate and intellectually enriching viewing experience with paintings (and art in its totality). It is truly astounding that Pictures & Tears is not already an essential reading in introductory Art History courses!
The complete ebook version of Pictures & Tears can be found in the below link (generously provided by Dr. Elkins via his website):
BFRP,BFRAP at Bach Flower Remedy Registered Practitioner
1 年Thank you.
BFRP,BFRAP at Bach Flower Remedy Registered Practitioner
1 年I had no idea this was here. Thank you ever so much for letting us know. I have shed tears in front of paintings and sculpture. I deeply moved by opera. In my academic days at NYU, in art history and exhibit design that was not how my view of art was shaped. Some of my classes linked art to culture and cultural history or purpose. That would give more room to emotional language. But really, not so much. This needs to change. I agree with you.