"Stories of Art"

Paper Summary:

The paper explains James Elkin's argument in "Stories of Art" that art survey courses are often accepted by undergraduate students as having absolute academic authority as to what constitutes art and its history. The paper discusses how Elkins asserts that there are many stories of different artists, genres, peoples, and nations and every book or class on art is at least slightly biased and inadequate, since it is dependent upon the author or teacher. The paper concludes by pointing out the problem with Elkins' concept of stories of art.

From the Paper:

"Imagine a book that was entitled 'World Literature A-Z' or 'Science--Everything You Need to Know.' Very likely, you would be suspicious of such texts as superficial, and would not regard them as serious, academic overviews that treated their subject matter in any real depth. Yet according to James Elkin's Stories of Art, art survey courses often adopt a similarly inclusive project into their own ambitious scope. They are accepted by undergraduate students as having absolute academic authority as to what constitutes art and the history, or story of art. But Elkins argues that: "The single story of art is too flawed to function as the repository for the current sense of art history... Already the major art historians keep a mile away from survey texts: such books are written...by minor art historians who are more involved in teaching than in shaping the discipline (Elkins 130)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Elkins, James. Stories of Art. Routledge, 2002.

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