Gyorgy Kepes (ed.): The Man-Made Object (1966)

Between 1965 and 1966, New York book publisher George Braziller published a six volume series under the title Vision + Value, edited by renowned artist, designer and M.I.T. professor, Gyorgy Kepes.

The aim of the series, “…to stimulate the circulation of ideas, to find channels of communication that interconnect various disciplines and offer us a sense of structure in our 20th century world…,” encouraged interdisciplinary cooperation and sought to bring together the day’s foremost artists, scientists and scholars.

This volume presents a general evaluation of the man-made object as an important environmental factor in the shaping of the mores, feelings, and values. The man-made object, from ornamental trifles to large scale buildings, is here considered not only for its formal and aesthetic aspects, but also for its psychological and sociological impact.

Contributions by Gillo Dorfles, Herbert Read, Joan M. Erikson, Kazuhiko Egawa, Michael J. Blee, Marshall McLuhan, Christopher Alexander, Leonardo Ricci, Marcel Breuer, Theodore M. Brown, Jean Hélion, Henry S. Stone, Jr., Frederick S. Wright, Dore Ashton, Françoise Choay.

Publisher George Braziller, New York, 1966
Vision + Value Series, 5
230 pages

PDF (51 MB, no OCR)

More on Kepes

William C. Wees: Vorticism and the English Avant-Garde (1972)

An early study on the English avant-garde movement.

Publisher University of Toronto Press, and Manchester University Press, 1972
ISBN 0719005043
273 pages

Commentary (Wallace Martin, Contemporary Literature, 1974)
Review (George Waterston, Canadian Literature, 2013)

PDF (106 MB, no OCR)
See also Blast at Monoskop wiki

Michel Foucault: Manet and the Object of Painting (1971–) [FR, ES, EN, RU]

“In this encounter between one of the 20th century’s greatest minds and an artist fundamental to the development of modern art, Michel Foucault explores Edouard Manet’s importance in the overthrow of traditional values in painting.

Originally delivered in Tunis in 1971 as part of a conference on Manet and here translated into English for the first time, this powerful critique takes the form of a commentary on 13 of Manet’s paintings. For the political-minded philosopher, the connection between visual art and power was clear: art is not an aesthetic pursuit, but a means to explore and challenge power dynamics. A precursor to Foucault’s later work on le regard, or the gaze, the text examines paintings like Un Bar aux Folies-Bergere, where Manet used the mirror to imply the multiple gaze of the waitress, the viewer, and the man at the bar, who may or may not be the artist himself. Foucault used Manet as a basis for a wider exploration of culture.”

English edition
Translated by Matthew Barr
With an Introduction by Nicolas Bourriaud
Publisher Tate, London, 2009
ISBN 1854378457, 9781854378453
80 pages

Commentary: James Polchin (The New Inquiry, 2011)
Bruno-Nassim Aboudrar (Critique d’art, 2004, FR).
Review: John Elias Nale (Foucault Studies, 2005).

Publisher (FR)
Publisher (EN)

Le noir et la surface & La peinture de Manet (French, manuscript with transcription, from Cahiers de L’Herne, 2011, pp 378-395 & 396-409). Audio excerpt (both links updated on 2021-2-3)
La pintura de Manet (Spanish, trans. Roser Vilagrassa, 2005)
Manet and the Object of Painting (English, trans. Matthew Barr, 2009, updated on 2021-2-3)
Zhivopis Mane (Russian, trans. A.V. Dyakov, 2011, added on 2014-6-6)

See also Georges Bataille: Manet: Biographical and Critical Study, 1955.