Art History and Geography: A New Global Perspective.

This article presents an interview of John Onians, a professor at the University of East Anglia, and the editor "Atlas of World Art," a publication which fuses the history and geography of art. Onians' passion for art is very evident. So too is the fact that he is a man whose philosophy of life plays itself out in the way he looks at and interprets art objects. While not denying the great importance of culture in shaping behavior and creative endeavor, he distances himself from cultural politics. According to him, he thinks political approaches are dreadfully limited. Thinking about how to articulate his global perspective and his fascination with the essential nature of human beings, Onians developed the idea of double-page spreads which focus on a place and a time.