Evidencing an Art Evaluation

Advancing a claim about the quality of a work of art is critical thinking applied in a particular arena and applies the same rules that advancing a claim about anything follows. Described this way, advancing an art evaluative claim is no different from advancing any claim. On the other hand, advancing claims in differing arenas frequently follow different methodologies. Art criticism, thought of in this way—as a species of critical thinking focused on advancing claims about the quality of works of art—has its own methodology. This paper describes two versions of that methodology, one that is object-focused (or event-focused) and one that is subject-focused.