{"product_id":"the-devil-in-the-gallery-how-scandal-shock-and-rivalry-shaped-the-art-world","title":"The Devil in the Gallery: How Scandal  Shock  and Rivalry Shaped the Art World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Its an in-depth look at varied time periods and artists  which readers interested in gossip  drama  or art history will enjoy.\" Library Journal  Starred Review Scandal  shock and rivalry all have negative connotations  dont they? They can be catastrophic to businesses and individual careers. A whiff of scandal can turn a politician into a smoking ruin. But these potentially disastrous negatives can and have spurred the world of fine art to new heights. A look at the history of art tells us that rivalries have  in fact  not only benefited the course of art  from ancient times to the present  but have also helped shape our narrative of art  lending it a sense of drama that it might otherwise lack  and therefore drawing the interest of a public who might not be drawn to the objects alone. There would be no Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo had rival Raphael not tricked the pope into assigning him the commission  certain that Michelangelo  who had never before worked with frescoes  would botch the job and become a laughing stock. Scandal and shock have proven to be powerful weapons when harnessed and wielded willfully and well. That scandal is good for exposure has been so obviously the case that many artists have courted it intentionally  which we will define as shock: intentionally overturning expectations of the majority in a way that traditionalist find dismaying or upsetting  but which a certain minority avant-garde find exciting. From Damien Hirst presenting the public with a shark embalmed in formaldehyde and entombed in a glass case to Marcel Duchamp trying to convince the art community that a urinal is a great sculpture shock has been a key promotional tool. The Devil in the Gallery is a guided tour of the history of art through it scandals  rivalries  and shocking acts  each of which resulted in a positive step forward for art in general and  in most cases  for the careers of the artists in question. In addition to telling dozens of stories  lavishly illustrated in full color  of such dramatic moments and arguing how they not only affected the history of art but affected it for the better  we will also examine the proactive role of the recipients of these intentionally dramatic actions: The art historians  the critics and even you  the general public. The Devil likes to lurk in dark corners of the art world  morphing into many forms. Let us shed light upon him.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44963059499061,"sku":"ByrdShop_1538138646","price":28.14,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781538138649.jpg?v=1770405421","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-devil-in-the-gallery-how-scandal-shock-and-rivalry-shaped-the-art-world","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}