15 September 2006 | Journals
In a recent Oxford Art Journal (29.2), Harry Mount writes: “In 1728 Ephraim Chambers noted the recent appearance in English of a new word, ‘connoisseur’, which he defined as meaning ‘a Critick, or a Person who is a thorow Judge, or Master in any way; in Matters of Painting, &c.’ For many historians, the rise [...]
14 September 2006 | Books
The League of Palestinian Artists appears to have joined Palestinian artist/author Kamal Boullata in his condemnation of Palestinian Art by Gannit Ankori (currently a visiting professor at Harvard). The main accusation is plagiarism; unfortunately, we couldn’t locate the specific charges — if anyone else does, please email us. Update: we received a letter in response [...]
13 September 2006 | Journals, Theory
In the Summer 2006 Critical Inquiry, Jas’ Elsner writes, in the conclusion to his article on Riegl: “There is much value in treating art-historical discourse in general as ekphrasis. This is to say, it is rhetorical, with the aim of persuading an audience of a point or an argument; it is directed not towards some [...]
12 September 2006 | Conservation
From Ansa: “A top Italian art historian warned on Monday that a government bid to simplify public administration procedures could threaten the country’s cultural heritage. Salvatore Settis, former director of the Getty Research Institute of Art History in Los Angeles, explained in a front-page article published by the La Repubblica daily that the danger lay [...]
11 September 2006 | Contemporary
CAA Reviews has a long essay by John Clark on “Contemporary Asian Art at Biennales and Triennales”. The following paragraph seems representative: “When your biennale/triennale largely selects artists the curator(s) ‘know’ or who are from groups ‘known to’ the curator(s), taste is substituted for more local or regional art-critical or curatorial advice, and a search [...]
8 September 2006 | Uncategorized
Many artists study art history, but how many have worked on catalogues raisonnés, let alone catalogues of Bouguereau and Gérôme? Painter Graydon Parrish employs a “classical” style and recently completed a large “allegorical mural entitled The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: September 11th 2001-2006 [c]ommissioned by the New Britain Museum of American Art,” according to [...]
7 September 2006 | Conferences
You think you’ve done some exhausting conference-going? Metropolis reports that Rem Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist recently “interview[ed] over sixty artists, architects, and writers for 24 hours…straight”: “Known for his energetic and globe-trotting ways, Rem Koolhaas finally admitted to being exhausted … He was speaking in the pavilion he designed on the lawn of London’s [...]
6 September 2006 | Uncategorized
A new academic year, that is. Blogger-student La Critika kicks it off: “Although it’s hard to believe that I spent 7 months working for a manufacturer of silicone breast implants, I think my time at the boob job put to rest, once and for all, any doubts I had about academia or graduate school. I [...]
5 September 2006 | Modern
We take belated notice of the death of Delacroix scholar Lee Johnson, reported here in the Times of London: “He produced several monographs, exhibitions and dozens of articles, most of which can be seen in retrospect as stages in the formation of his formidable catalogue raisonné of Delacroix’s work which appeared in seven volumes between [...]
1 September 2006 | Ancient, Books
So many art-history surveys begin with cave art, that genre for which we have so few facts and so few convincing theories. Zoology professor Dale Guthrie’s new book “The Nature of Paleolithic Art,” which argues that most cave art was made by young men with little but sex and hunting on their minds, seems to [...]
