The End of Art [Hardcover]

Donald Kuspit (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521832527 | ISBN-13: 978-0521832526 | Publication Date: January 19, 2004 | Edition: 1

Donald Kuspit argues here that art is over because it has lost its aesthetic import. Art has been replaced by "postart," a term invented by Alan Kaprow, as a new visual category that elevates the banal over the enigmatic, the scatological over the sacred, cleverness over creativity. Tracing the demise of aesthetic experience to the works and theory of Marcel Duchamp and Barnett Newman, Kuspit argues that devaluation is inseparable from the entropic character of modern art, and that anti-aesthetic postmodern art is in its final state. In contrast to modern art, which expressed the universal human unconscious, postmodern art degenerates into an expression of narrow ideological interests. In reaction to the emptiness and stagnancy of postart, Kuspit signals the aesthetic and human future that lies with the old masters. The End of Art points the way to the future for the visual arts. Donald Kuspit is Professor of Art History at SUNY Stony Brook. A winner of the Frank Jewett Mather Award for Distinction in Art Criticism, Professor Kuspit is a Contributing Editor at Artforum, Sculpture and New Art Examiner. His most recent book is The Cult of the Avant-Garde (Cambridge, 1994).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent book for understanding the post-modern art scene and how the next generation of visual artists might proceed."
-Tampa Tribune

"Kuspit's view is persuasive...The End of Art didn't make my mind up for me; rather, it opened up room for debate with artist friends and fellow gallery hoppers about the definition of art, whether it can be judged according to a universal standard and where it's going. It made me more aware of my powers of perception and my power as a perceiver, and encouraged me to seek out art that pleases me, for whatever reason."
-The Nation

Book Description

In The End of Art, Donald Kuspit argues that art is over because it has lost is aesthetic import. Tracing the demise of aesthetic experience to the works and theory of Marcel Duchamp and Barnett Newman, Kuspit argues that devaluation is inseparable from the entropic character of modern art, and that anti-aesthetic postmodern art is if final state. In reaction to the emptiness and stagnancy of postart, Kuspit signals the aesthetic and human future that lies with the New Old Masters.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (January 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521832527
• ISBN-13: 978-0521832526
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,458,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Accurate , Perceptive and Literate, April 8, 2004

By 

John A. Gargano "John Gargano" (Boca Raton, FL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The End of Art (Hardcover)

Donald Kuspit submits an astute assessment of the current state of contemporary cognitive expression which many people erroneously call "art". He has accurately identified that most of today's contemporary "art" is preoccupied with joyless ideological and intellectual concepts which fail to provide an aesthetic experience. He clearly describes how the product of the intellect clearly differs from expressions that emanate from the depths of ones subconscious mind, ones psyche or one's soul. Mr. Kuspit thoroughly examines, in what is sometimes a difficult read (for that which is clearly non-trivial subject matter), the origins of post-art, the departure from an aesthetic orientation and why so much of today's work is simply the banal placed on a pedestal by those who have taken their identity from the crowd. While some of this book may be difficult to comprehend initially, or all in one reading, it is not simply a restatement of conventional understanding about the subject. There is much original thought backed up by very thorough construction of its thesis. While it must have been extremely tempting, I don't believe Mr. Kuspit ever used the word "junk", one time. This book is very much a level above common discourse on this subject and deserving of consideration by those who wish to consider what constitutes a truly aesthetic experience.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good food for thought, May 4, 2005

By 

anya_galkina@hotmail (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The End of Art (Hardcover)

I don't think that a criticism of postmodern art should be automatically classified as right-wing propaganda, the way my fellow reviewer has done. If the reader can temper a knee-jerk defense reaction to having some sacred contemporary-art cows interrogated, this is a very interesting analysis, one I haven't fully digested yet because it's complex and well-thought out.

I am an artist puzzling with how little food for the soul can be found in contemporary galleries, and how little actual insight they hide beneath the veneer of polysyllabic mental smog. Soiled mattresses and sliced-up cows leave me disappointed in way I want to understand. I found this book a good stepping stone in trying to sort out both what "post-art" is lacking and where to take my own art practice.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The End of Art, July 16, 2005

By 

Carmen M. Megeath - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The End of Art (Hardcover)

This is a fabulous book, explaining in a clear but philosophical manner the crisis modern art finds itself in.
If you've ever wondered WHY so much of modern art is ugly, offensive, boring, text-and-technology driven, then here's the book for you. If you worship at the altar of Pop Art, then you shall be discomfitted. And you shall squirm as the author analyzes the core meaning behind the art of icons like Duchamp (even Courbet), and what this anti-art-street-art-spectacle-art has led to(it all seemed marvelous at the time). But never fear, there seems to be hope at the end of the tunnel (end of book), though the examples of paintings by the New Old Masters left me a bit cold....(if this is our hope, then.....). Kuspit is fair, and generous in his list of what he considers "good" art to be. He gives Abstract Expressionism its due, as well as speaking the very word "beauty." I applaud Donald Kuspit for laying it on the line - the Emperor Has No Clothes. We have observed for years that modern painting, more than any of the other art forms (music, poetry, dance, literature) has painted itself into a strange, dull corner. It seems, for a host of traumas and reasons, unable to address the spiritual.