Reviews for Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation

The average rating for Picture Theory: Essays on Verbal and Visual Representation based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2011-08-27 00:00:00 Yoichi Hosoi Reading this book is like walking into the middle of a heady conversation between two hoity-toity art historians who don't stop to brief you on what they discussed so far. You have to catch up on your own and even though you expend a lot of effort trying to do so, the two art historians try their best to ignore you. They may even sneer at you for being so unrefined. Ultimately, you regret joining this duo and try to gracefully walk away to another group where a lively debate is raging on a more accessible topic (e.g., comic books).

Review # 2 was written on 2012-11-11 00:00:00 Mary Ellen Guimomd What's good in this book, is really good. Particularly, Mitchell's discussion of William Blake is astounding and I found myself captivated by it. Unfortunately, his language could go up for a "most unreadable theoretical discourse" award. I read this during grad school and it helped me to rethink several things about the relationship between the word and image (hence, the Blake piece), but ultimately I am having trouble remembering everything I read. The brilliant moments are brilliant, but the rest is almost too hard to decipher. Especially if you aren't up on what's happening in the art world.