Art's agency and art history

"Art's Agency and Art History" throws the subject of the anthropology of art into brilliant and much-needed relief, by re-articulating its relationships to key methodological and theoretical approaches in art history, sociology, and linguistics.

Using Alfred Gell's influential work as a touchstone, the book showcases nine groundbreaking case studies by an internationally renowned group of art historians and art theorists.

Following an accessible introductory overview, the collection explores concepts and perspectives in a wide range of contexts, ranging from such cultures as Bronze Age China and Mesopotamia to those of Classical Greece, Imperial Rome, the Classic Maya and finally of the modern western world.