Eyes to See - by Roger Lipsey (Paperback)

About the Book

"Lushly illustrated reflections on the truth and meaning in great objects of art. An innovative approach to the spiritual in world art. Roger Lipsey invites the reader to a contemplative look, to a look of the intelligence of the heart. In the silence of words, each art work speaks to the viewer and teaches a gesture, a posture, a meditation. With "Eyes to See" a gaze is opened and discernment is refined as much as it allows itself to be touched, by truths eternally present at the heart of each work. "Eyes to See" then becomes a practical manual intended for the contemporary sensitized by the need to illuminate, within themselves, the chaotic world of art. Through its remarkable eclecticism, this collection of "icons"-to use the author's term here-takes the reader/viewer through eras and territories inspired by world history. The objective is not naively about knowledge but about seeing; because the eyes to see are those of the body and the soul as much as of the spirit which is not reduced to the intellect alone"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

Inviting you to explore and contemplate the great art of the world

"Somewhere, sometime in the course of casual encounters with art, an icon may emerge and claim its person: an image that startles and calls to you, that separates from its setting to inhabit your mind and heart." With these words Roger Lipsey introduces the theme, and sparkling challenge, of this book.

With more than sixty full-page, full-color illustrations of the world's great art, Eyes to See is a feast for eye and mind--and heart. Through his selection of works and his enlightening, accessible commentaries, Lipsey renews for our time André Malraux's "museum without walls." What is the spiritual and how is it present in art? Allow this book to show you. It explores whole worlds of art, from ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean to medieval Europe and the Renaissance, India, the Far East, and the world of Islam. Lipsey's approach encourages new understandings--felt, contemplative, inquiring--and offers readers a lasting orientation for their own future explorations.

"Icons emerge from the fog of things and make themselves known. You have no initial idea that you will cherish one work of art or another--until the moment of recognition, when light flashes into some little known or vital corner of self. The encounter engages not just the mind but also feeling and body in a moment of knowing, of surprise and delight, of measuring both what one is today and one's sense of direction. The response is quite total, a memorable event. Adoption occurs: the image becomes part of oneself."

Review Quotes

Blurbs for Lipsey's previous books on art:

"An invaluable reminder of the purposes and possibilities of modern art. Exemplary." --Kirkus

"It is not easy to write about the deeply wordless world from which these haunting images emerged, but at last the challenge to think out loud about this neglected side of Merton has been taken up by Roger Lipsey." --Jim Forest, author, Living with Wisdom: A Life of Thomas Merton

"This astonishing book looks at an aspect of Merton's life that has been almost ignored. Here we have access to that wordless, imageless experience that was nearer to him than life itself. It is a book to be read slowly, quietly, and repeatedly: a wonderful book." --Sister Wendy Beckett, PBS host

About the Author

Roger Lipsey earned his PhD in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts (New York University) in 1974. Art historian, biographer, and translator, he is the author and editor of a trilogy by and about the remarkable twentieth-century art historian and historian of religion Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Other major publications include An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art; Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton; and Hammarskjöld: A Life, acclaimed as the definitive biography of the great statesman. Roger lives in the lower Hudson Valley of New York State. His author website is rogerlipsey.net.