New Publication: Alfred Hitchcock and the Arts
7 February 2013
Film director Alfred Hitchcock is best known for ingeniously crafted thrillers like „The Birds“ and „Psycho“. A newly published volume edited by Heidelberg art historian Prof. Dr. Henry Keazor indicates how various influences from the spheres of art, literature, architecture, dance and even cooking conspired to make his films into genuine Gesamtkunstwerke. The collection contains articles by 12 authors and illuminates Hitchcock’s personality from a wide range of perspectives. The articles enlarge not only on influences with a bearing on his own work but also the impact of his films on other artists. Henry Keazor, who teaches and pursues his research at Heidelberg University’s Institute of European Art History, is the editor of the book and has penned the introduction.
Alfred Hitchcock’s links with the art world are not only familiar to experts. He began his film career as a draughtsman and stage designer and all his life he collected contemporary art. In addition, the articles in the book indicate the significance that Hitchcock’s many other interests had for his films. “The book is an interdisciplinary approach to his work and his personality”, explains Henry Keazor, professor of early modern and contemporary art history at Heidelberg University. “It also discusses contemporary art and dance projects that engage with Hitchcock’s works. They prove how inspirational and suggestive this director’s work still is. So far it has been almost exclusively media and film studies that have investigated his work at the academic level. Never before has there been such a comprehensive and at the same time integrative approach as in the present publication.”
The articles stem from the fields of musicology, literary studies, drama and media studies, art, choreography and psychoanalysis. One of the authors discusses the reception accorded to Hitchcock in the context of contemporary video-installation art. An interview with artist Benjamin Samuel, whose homage “Hitchcock30” can be viewed at the German Film Museum in Frankfurt am Main, casts light on Hitchcock’s status in contemporary art. Two of the articles investigate the role of eating in the films, a passion that in Hitchcock’s life came second only to filming itself.
Reference
Henry Keazor (ed.): Hitchcock und die Künste. Schüren Verlag 2013
Contact
Prof. Dr. Henry Keazor
Institute of European Art History
Phone: +49 6221 54-2353
h.keazor@zegk.uni-heidelberg.de
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