New Images of Man

A new image of man, often shattered, or distorted, reflecting the anxieties of our century, has evolved in contemporary art. This book contains a selection of those recent painters and sculptors who, in their interpretations of the human figure, have created this mid-twentieth-century image. In the paintings of Dubuflet it is an earth-bound image of man presented with all the ambiguity of his position; in those of Bacon it is man terrifyingly aware of the precariousness of his existence; in the sculpture of Giacometti or Baskin, of his solitude in a dehumanized world. In his introduction and in the individual accounts of the twenty-three artists included, Mr. Selz relates their art to the art of the past, pointing out their affinity to Goya, Bosch, and other angry exponents of their own ages. He notes their re lationship to the masters of the more recent past, analyses the works themselves and discusses their use of contemporary art forms and techniques.