City of Second Sight: Nineteenth-Century Boston and the Making of American Visual Culture

Amazon.com Price: $32.95 (as of 02/05/2019 14:54 PST- Details)

Description

Within the decades before the U.S. Civil War, the city of Boston evolved from a dilapidated, haphazardly planned, and architecturally stagnant provincial town into a booming and visually impressive metropolis. So that you could remake Boston into the “Athens of The usa,” neighborhoods were leveled, streets straightened, and an ambitious set of architectural ordinances enacted. Alternatively, while residents reveled in a vibrant new landscape of landmark buildings, art galleries, parks, and bustling streets, the social and sensory upheaval of city life also gave rise to a widespread fascination with the unseen. Focusing his analysis between 1820 and 1860, Justin T. Clark traces how the effort to impose moral and social order at the city also inspired many—from Transcendentalists to clairvoyants and amateur artists—to are looking for out more ethereal visions of the infinite and ideal beyond the gilded paintings and glimmering storefronts.

By elucidating the reciprocal influence of two of a very powerful developments in nineteenth-century American culture—the spectacular city and visionary culture—Clark demonstrates how the nineteenth-century city is not just the birthplace of brand new spectacle but also a battleground for the freedom and autonomy of the spectator.

Home » Shop » Books » Subjects » Arts and Photography » History and Criticism » History » Americas » United States » Massachusetts » Boston » City of Second Sight: Nineteenth-Century Boston and the Making of American Visual Culture

Recent Products