Modern Art and the Remaking of Human Disposition

Emmelyn Butterfield-Rosen's book investigates how artists around the turn of the 20th century reconceived the human figure, replacing classical postures with new bodily dispositions that corresponded to emerging scientific and psychological models of mind.

Through sustained readings of works by Georges Seurat, Gustav Klimt, and Václav Nijinsky, the book connects changes in pose and posture to broader intellectual currents—Darwinian thought, psychophysics, and psychoanalysis.

It situates artworks within their contemporary media environments and reception histories, arguing that artists both reacted to and helped shape shifting notions of human interiority.

The author blends art-historical analysis with history of science and media studies to map this cultural transformation.

The book includes extensive plates and archival material to support its argument and illustrate the visual changes discussed.