Overview

Seeking to define beauty, the author observes that it is not an objective thing, but a generic term for an unspecifiable number of psychological experiences in the mind of the beholder. She considers what these experiences are, what causes them, and how they manifest themselves as a notion of beauty. Pacteau's analysis extends from the classical ideals of beauty, through Renaissance poetry to the recent formulations of Hollywood. Using psychoanalytic theory, in which the term ""symptom"" is indicative of repression, she also examines Jean-Paul Goude's photographs of Grace Jones and charts Andre Breton's futile attempt to preserve his ""love at last sight"" for a passer-by. The book is an attempt to describe the mise-en-scene of beauty within a particular field of represention - that of the beauty of a woman.

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9780948462542

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Author Information

Francette Pacteau is Research Associate in Art History, University of California, Santa Cruz.

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