Faculty Book-Length Publications (Selected)

The Shaping of Art History: Meditations on a Discipline 

by Patricia Emison
Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008

excerpt from book cover: In this provocative book, Patricia Emison invites the reader to consider and reconsider how past thinkers—from Pliny and Alberti to Freud and Fried—have conceptualized the history of Western art. What a book review attempts to be for a book, this extended essay attempts to be for several hundred years’ worth of books in a field: an indicator of problems with the old attempts and hopes for the new ones. It is a defense of art history for those outside the field who question its reliability or even its importance; it is a critique of art history for those in the field who may have been preoccupied with looking at trees but who might be interested in trying to see the forest.

"It is refreshing to find a seasoned scholar stepping back and calmly appraising the strengths and weaknesses of the profession...The author herself is noted for boldness in tackling traditional subjects from unusual points of view. This book, in effect a long essay, is no exception.'' Debra Pincus, Choice

"This wise and thoughtful book would make an excellent text for a methodology course and should be read by all who are interested in the field." David Wilkins, Renaissance Quarterly, 2008

This book is available in paperback.

The Simple Art: Printed Images in an Age of Magnificence 

by Patricia Emison
Art Gallery University of New Hampshire, 2006

excerpt from book cover: Essay and catalog entries on 16th-century Italian prints from New England college collections, selected to show the range and quality of kinds of printed imagery during this pivotal period. Fully illustrated and accompanied by an extensive essay, an introduction to the fundamental subject of how mechanical reproduction has affected the history of art. It examines the Renaissance through its most distinctively modern and most consistently overlooked aspect, the printed and often collaborative image.

"refreshing in its scale, focus, intelligence, readability, and affordability.'' W.E. Wallace, Choice, Feb. 2007

"intriguing and original selection" Michael Bury, Print Quarterly, XXIV, 2007.

"While her essay will engage the general reader as well as the expert, Emison's catalogue entries...provide a mine of information for art historians in particular." Sharon Gregory, Renaissance Studies

Available for purchase at The Art Gallery at the University of New Hampshire at http://www.unh.edu/art-gallery/pubs.html