The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art by Cesar Paternosto (1996, Hardcover)

Synopsis
"Shows that precolumbian tectonic forms (especially as found in sculpture and weaving) appear to be an overlooked source, or anticipation, of much of the art of the 20th century. Second part of book deals with artifacts as American art and addresses reception of ancient tectonics in the 20th century. Emphasizes intense relationship that some members of the New York School (particularly Barnett Newman and Adolph Gottlieb) had during 1940s with the aboriginal arts of the North American part of the hemisphere and thus the affinities between their work and the work of the older Torres Garcâia in Montevideo, at the other end of the continent"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.

Key Details
Author:	Cesar Paternosto
Language:	English
Publisher:	Univ of Texas Pr
Format:	Hardcover
ISBN-10:	0292765657
ISBN-13:	9780292765658

Additional Details
Edition Number:	1

Size
Length:	272 pages
Thickness:	1 in
Weight:	41.6 oz

Publisher's Note
"Shows that precolumbian tectonic forms (especially as found in sculpture and weaving) appear to be an overlooked source, or anticipation, of much of the art of the 20th century. Second part of book deals with artifacts as American art and addresses reception of ancient tectonics in the 20th century. Emphasizes intense relationship that some members of the New York School (particularly Barnett Newman and Adolph Gottlieb) had during 1940s with the aboriginal arts of the North American part of the hemisphere and thus the affinities between their work and the work of the older Torres GarcÂia in Montevideo, at the other end of the continent"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.http://www.loc.gov/hlas/

The ancient art of the Andes achieved its most sophisticated expression in weaving and painted pottery, as well as stone sculpture. Yet these objects have long been dismissed as "craft" items by observers for whom "art" means paintings on canvas and other manifestations of the European art tradition.
In this major, paradigm-shifting book, first published in Buenos Aires in 1989 as Piedra abstracta, César Paternosto offers the first comprehensive analysis of ancient Andean art in its own terms. Drawing all manifestations of Andean art--textiles, pottery, stone sculpture, carved rock outcrops, and the famous lines in the Nazca desert--into one coherent whole, he persuasively argues that these were the art media that fulfilled the symbol-making needs of a society that made no distinction between "art" and "craft."
Challenging the notion that abstraction is a development of the modern West, Paternosto reveals its deep roots as an indigenous American tradition and shows how that tradition reverberates in the work of twentieth-century artists such as Joaquín Torres García, Barnett Newman, Adolph Gottlieb, and Josef Albers. This section of the book, significantly expanded from the Spanish original, adds an important new chapter to the art history of the Americas.
Engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, The Stone and the Thread unveils the masterpieces of ancient Andean art that have been long secluded in anthropological and natural history museums. It will open up new ways of seeing indigenous American art for a wide readership.
A resident of New York City, César Paternosto is a leading abstract artist who has exhibited widely in the Americas, Europe, and Japan.