Philosophical Art Criticism

Recent American art criticism has borrowed heavily from philosophy. David Carrier describes and evaluates the work of critic Donald Kuspit. The author argues that philosophical criticism fails to do justice to the specifically artistic features of the work it describes; Kuspit’s book on the painter Leon Golub does not indicate what is original and important in that artist’s work. Kuspit’s work is contrasted with the philosophical criticism of Rosalind Krauss, which, it is argued, provides an original and provocative analysis of philosophical issues.