Arthur C. Danto was a distinguished professor of philosophy and an influential art critic. His work deeply engaged with the relationship between art and life, exploring art within a post-historical perspective and offering insightful essays on the cusp of aesthetics and philosophy. Danto was known for his sharp analytical style and his ability to connect artistic innovations with broader philosophical questions. His writings often challenged conventional notions of art and its role in society.
From the 1990s until just before his death, the legendary art critic and philosopher Arthur C. Danto carried out extended conversations about contemporary art with the prominent Italian critic Demetrio Paparoni. Art and Posthistory presents these rich dialogues and correspondence, testifying to the ongoing importance of Danto's ideas.
The American art critic Arthur Danto (1924–2013) spent his entire life in pursuit of the essence of art. Influenced by Nietzsche, Hegel, and Schopenhauer, he concerned himself with issues related to representation theory, coined the term “art world,” and posited the end of traditional art. One of the art philosopher’s primary interests was the New York School—Abstract Expressionism. He considered the highly esteemed oeuvre of his friend Sean Scully to be its continuation and further development. “Scully’s historical importance lies in the way he has brought the great achievement of Abstract Expressionist painting into the contemporary moment.” Danto devoted a series of essays to the abstract stripe paintings by the Irish artist (*1945 in Dublin). The bibliophile publication assembles Danto’s essays on Scully’s body of work for the time in one volume, and combines them with select illustrations—paintings, photographs, and drawings by the painter. SEAN SCULLY (*1945, Dublin) is one of the most famous artists of his generation. In addition to numerous exhibitions worldwide, he has been honored with important awards such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and Harckness Fellowship.
Originally delivered as the prestigious Mellon Lectures on the Fine Arts in 1995, After the End of Art remains a classic of art criticism and philosophy, and continues to generate heated debate for contending that art ended in the 1960s. Arthur Danto, one of the best-known art critics of his time, presents radical insights into art’s irrevocable deviation from its previous course and the decline of traditional aesthetics. He demonstrates the necessity for a new type of criticism in the face of contemporary art’s wide-open possibilities. This Princeton Classics edition includes a new foreword by philosopher Lydia Goehr.
What is it to be a work of art? Part philosophical monograph and part memoiristic meditation, this book challenges the popular interpretation that art is an indefinable concept, instead bringing to light the properties that constitute universal meaning.
Key essays by renowned critics and scholars explore the life and work of a legendary twentieth-century artist. Contributors like Benjamin H. D. Buchloh, Rosalind Krauss, and Peter Bürger provide critical insights and analysis, delving into the artist's influence on contemporary art and culture. This collection serves as an essential resource for understanding the complexities of the artist's legacy and the broader art movements of the era.
Explores the nature of historical knowledge and its reliance on narrative. This book introduces the concept of narrative sentences, in which an event is described with reference to later events and discusses why such sentences cannot be understood until the later event happens. It compares narrative and scientific explanation.
This text examines the small woven and wrought works artist Sheila Hicks has produced over years. Focusing on 100 Hicks miniatures from many public and private collections, it includes three informative essays as well as illustrations of the artist's related drawings, photographs and chronology.
"Arthur C. Danto's five volumes of review essays form a chronicle of the art world in our time, and a running appraisal of the great variety of significant work made in our midst." "In this new book, Danto shows how work that bridges the gap between art and life is now the definitive work of our time: Damien Hirst's arrays of skeletons and anatomical models, Barbara Kruger's tchotchke-ready slogans, Renee Cox's nude portrait of herself presiding at the Last Supper. To the obvious question - is this stuff really art? - Danto replies with an enthusiastic yes, explaining, with a philosopher's clarity and an art lover's delight, how these "unnatural wonders" show us who we are."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Few philosophers are as widely read or as widely misunderstood as Friedrich Nietzsche. This book includes five essays which not only enhances our understanding of Nietzsche's philosophy but also it responds to the misunderstandings that continue to muddy his intellectual reputation.
Arthur C. Danto is professor emeritus of philosophy at Columbia University. He is the art critic for the Nation and has served as president of the American Philosophical Association.