Art History as Social Praxis: The Collected Writings of David Craven

Art History as Social Praxis: The Collected Writings of David Craven brings together more than thirty essays that chart the development of Craven's voice as an unorthodox Marxist who applied historical materialism to the study of modern art. This book demonstrates the range and versatility of David Craven's praxis as a 'democratic socialist' art historian who assessed the essential role the visual arts play in imagining more just and equitable societies. The essays collected here reveal Craven's lifelong commitment to exposing interstices between western and non-western cultures by researching the reciprocating influences between First- and Third-World artists, critics and historians.

David Lee Craven, Ph.D. (1979), University of North Carolina, was Distinguished Professor at University of New Mexico and passed away in 2012. He was an art historian who displayed rare intellect and industry. In his lifetime Craven wrote more than fifteen monographs and exhibition catalogues on such diverse topics as Diego Rivera, Abstract Expressionism, Rudolf Baranik and art associated with Latin American revolutions. In addition to being a dedicated professor and inspirational lecturer, he published over 150 essays, articles and reviews in such academic journals as Art History, Kritische Berichte and Third Text and mass-circulation publications such as Arts Magazine and Tema Celeste; further, his writings have appeared in dozens of anthologies, encyclopaedias and newspapers.

Brian Winkenweder, Ph.D. (2004), Stony Brook University is Professor of Art History at Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon. He co-edited Dialectical Conversions: Donald Kuspit's Art Criticism with David Craven (Liverpool University Press, 2011). He also published 'David Craven's Future Perfect' at the online journal Third Text.