C. J. Bulliet, Art Critic: The Earlly Years

Oxford Art Journal, vol.8, no.2, 1985, pp.52-62.

Journal of Art Historiography, 2023

Abstract: This essay reviews Stephen Moonie’s book Art Criticism and Modernism in the United States (2002), which contributes to the steadily growing field of art-historical research into art criticism. Until recently, art criticism has received scant attention partly because such writing is often considered ‘literary’, ‘unacademic’, or constitutively defined by ‘subjectivity’ in comparison to its siblings art history and aesthetics. Moonie’s book focuses upon North American art criticism from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, particularly the writings produced in and around Artforum in dialogue with Clement Greenberg’s difficult legacy. Such criticism dovetailed with developments in contemporary painting, sculpture, and film, but also presented itself as avowedly more intellectual, philosophically engaged, and self-reflexive than other forms of art criticism current at the time. This review, therefore, examines how Moonie elucidates this emergent mode of art criticism, particularly in light of its recourse to philosophical concepts as interpretative aids. An advance copy was published on the Journal of Art Historiography blog and will be officially published in issue 29, December 2023

Published in American Art: Smithsonian American Art Museum 17, No. 2 (Summer 2003): 9-12. Conversation with historian Joshua Brown about the importance of history to the field of art history.

Historein 5, 2005

British Art Studies

1964

and influential or these art books. Ratbsr than burjl!!n tM ~ader ~"ith ~ long list or nn1:l (,ntles and t1811" relpltO\lve books, w have chosen to g'..:..ve eval~ .. tiona or both the critic and bia book or book. IS tbe.Y' aN taken up in the tol ... 1~ cbapteN. A ~ 1IUSt alao 'be said in pallial about the uae ot ftetravaper8. As:tn ... terenin! and ~.ti"" as newspaper :reacticm to exhibit. of ll!m.odem art~ tewda to bt" to j _ t.t degree il auoh reaction dU'tieult to al. .. I. t?e ... ci.~ what .al_ 1D it to know that. . Is am ncb a paper l"eaetlltd adversely to a show of .~ art" .~ another tJ8P8,.. q'CIite tavorablTl Aotul17 Alllllrtoa Pl"\tl" 'Naet1ea to tM "modem artt!' ehowI of tbe Qwt1a. Il1't4 the Freneh press react 10ft to their Mmodem art" abowl at the aame period d1tter qUite a bit" b 1mpresa1md.ri m!.n. ReDotr, relltbd.acintJ with bi. MIl .bOll' tbe poeat Aar1can '1.1upftltr.1m1et s~ 1D New York in 1886 X'ltlldndl ~ oE tblst IJ'The !meric8f1 public 11 ,robllb17 no more alert tban the l~_ehJ b\k it dOttin" thtak it neeellt8'!7 to ftIee1" at tl'd.rcl it doeln't undo-nand. , .. 28 Again, 11nee we were l.bd.ted to certain citieS fI O1llT the ~ ~ant ttomaents OIl the few imprelsioniSt lbotm _" oonsidered. In the tinal anal7li8, the .. lectiort of thi. oor that D~G'l"'?:''' from Ybieh to PlIPle criticia nl I_bat wbitrar,.. Btraqe17 eM.b, ttw l'lOWla were written whole pu:rpose wal to tbrow light and unde",and:1rc on the collect lag habits of A!l8rlcan collect.... Nor was the oont.~ rwahttil'll of the niDriua .. subject or ewn tbe ~ll thallS of e aucoe ...... O'WJl of the ,_a. Tr'ae, 0re1 .. r'. !!!. _a. .... I1 .... ! .... _ .... NYol"le' arolmd the ,"nOll' utal. and 1IlIl'.ri1al 'f".lc11Iit1dea or a ftppol8d~ Aaerlcan "1IIpre •• 1.oclat. lei Aat 7ft, the ~ wae M1therlhlCceUf"ul .1 a "'ft1, nor '.8 • lMDet'Pat1Dc 1tud7 of tbe lite of an artist. lowe .. r 'ba1i lUT be, 80ae. . U IJIcmIlt ot matmal 12 tme Wted to the degree that it could be discovered. Here a8 elsewhere, Van ~k Brooks' 0818J'8 were invaluable. 29 Prob3b13r the JlOst accurate iDatraaentlll or Eens helpi!lg us calculat, the taste or If1dweateru American collectors ot rfmooem art" were the Fairs, Art MIll .. eum exh11lrltl, aM art aaetloM. lis It'IOh public 9-.eIlt. j the ccmorete aan1tena-tiOD or tl» tane of the few wealthy AiI8rlaan eolleetM'l clift be found. To a de_ 11"", we can allo dilCOftr ~th1q ot the pelic taste fo" art. H~ver J 1n diseerntal this lalt e1e1ll!!flt, e1ll))balis II.WJt be 011 the materials described .boTe._ j01Smal., ue~1"S, art 'book. am orttiee. AltmIC the" "~110 e'Wt'lts, It let lIS fim tum to the Fa11"1 or Elxpoaltions. '!bJtn were t0111" important Fairs or exposition. that tilde som _aU or large eult ... al illpaet ott A_riea dving the 1Nt tWee deeades ot the n1Deteetith eeo-tUlT. In chrODologieal order tbe,. 8ft. The Philadelphia CeDtermlal EJtpoaltioa of 1876, The Bew Orleana World'. Fair, 188S, The Chic_CO World's l~atr, 1893, am The !tlaMa Soutbtm Exposit!Oft of 189$. Bd .aid •• theft 1llOJ"e or leaa nation-8117 bOWft Fair. there was a whole boat of _aller atate and reei.al Fatre or Exposit1o_. •Whm aaldMd at olo .. r ranp all the I~oaltion. bad 10_ cntltural 8.ot" to them. A •• ar~ a. 1863, the NDOWfted lay York art oritio, Clarenoe Cook, tbeD at the _lIIItt of hll cll'MJ', _de the New York 3anitalT Fau a target toP hill .harp eriticilll. 30 In 187'9, Chie.to be. . boldiftr 8. lerie. of Interstate Iaduatrl.al~itl0ft8, em. ot who.,. .d.ll telt1lft. WQ a yearl7', bril-J.i:Wl't art display so taDtOlll i. i1:lrope aDd this o01llli17 that it a. d1ib'hed tllt Aimerioa" SalOJl. tt31 Ohapter t!re. or the tllt.i. will deaeri'be the .. exhibits at 801M lqgth. Beside! Ohic." Internate IDdutr1al ~tiOft, the to.1ml1. ~hera ~o.itioaJ modeled alone the lines 01 Itl Chlcaco predeoessor, teatwred yearly displays or art dmng the ,.,.rl 188) tbro\1lh 1887. fhWCh the Lo1li.ville Dau.b1py, Whistler, and Zor.n. There were t_s when even such II portraitiet a8 Sarpnt was thoucht of as an impressionist. Otten, too, the Amrican critics were inconsistent. The artists jut named wore said "to be 11'1 the camp~' of the impres8ioniste and then a short t1JBe later, lIto be out at the camp" of the 1m.pressioni.sts, depending on who the or1tic Jltight be, and ifhere his a,mpatbiel laT. In all ot this discuss1.M, someoae tud.l1ar with 8elthetio aspects ot art caD quite 1el11;irlate17 object-wlV' not Cla8S1ty the apt1t1ts as 1mpresaionist, realist, or roMDticist atc. aeoordiDI to the aesthetio they tollowed? This would be well and COM hom the hizldeigbt we possess toda,. on the origins of this nnevi' art. Bat tbe cultural hitton.n try.1n« to lZderstand the artists and the people in their 1Urr0000dings J'IWIt come to despair OJ" at lea.t trutrat10D tr,y1n1 to tollow this supposed ina1ght. ilone ot the impressionist. bad a lo,i. cally worked out and high17 orgaa1Hd qsteJl ot pr1Dciplaa that the J!!1Dter h1m-Mit wall obl1Ced to tollow.. Oerta1nq. aost at t1:8 inner core of ttnew" painters ae1mow1edged III tew basia prinoiples or ooncepts. And.,et eve. here. painter. like l'~tt DGps 8l1d Renoir chanced their waole outlook at twa and did so _re17 to o01llri the al'Pl"Oftl ot the Itall hiah and holy' French Aoadellio Salon. Regardinc a present...da7 attampt to iI&po.e upon this whole group • unified aes-~c ; thetio and .ometb1ng ot a philosoplv', Ventvi haa been as suocesstu.l a. aDJ'OM:; Yet, a. n ahall Me later, hi. IIl1ppOsed catelor~8 would throw the doors open to almost an,. artists worSting from 1863 to the end or the century, if su~!h 17 artists 1ml"e not strict adherents to the academe pr-1nc1pl®s or devotees of-Gradually an important fact eJDlllrged from. this confuton. It i& no"thillg othe:r than the simple assertion that the people of the nineties thought o£ thil art, which had been ~owin.g 8ince DelacroiJt's time, 88 ;'oodern art.fi Espec1alq was this true of the art tbat de'Veloped indepenoent of the tr&ditiol'l ot acarjellic principles. The most concrete evidll!ulce thllt people thoucht of this ar-I; as aWl. dem'l can be seen in the titles of the wrio\l.s periodioals brought out to del.1Il this art of tbe painters of the eighties and the nineties. In France, ~!!! Moderne, and teArt Modame, and in the American Midwest, Modem An. 36 Tl'.nt.8 1t-was decided that tbis stUdy should be entitled, tllJAOdern Art Comes to tne ML.iweat,. 1680 to 1890." No other title can justify' the attitude ot the American art critics of the niB.ties pre_nted in chapters two and three. ConHCfMnt13', it will be one of the uiJI burdens of tblt to11.owillg chapters to show clearly that ¥lmodem art n iD the nineties meant .implJr that ld.nd of art that wa_ collected by tM wealtbT art taneiers of the tiMs and exhibited by the JIlllseums of the .tr. riC8!l Mtdif81ft. Beyond all these specific prGblems, the researcher into the o'Gltural history of the ~ican 1890's must al.o t:r;y to peroeive differences of cllliaIral attd.masDt in the variou seetions of the cOllDtl7. Thus froll. a study of the art jo~.l. of the nineties one might came to the conclusion that the oollec. tors ot the Ea.t "1'8 tar more advanced 10 their oolleotlnl taetee than th(,se of the Midwest, 01' that the journals and the oritics ot the Midwest laeked much in the way of 1Jatell1.pnt oritlcUm and appreeu.tlon ot "l1lOdarn art. It Perhaps, tGO the eastern art oritics wure not at all aware of O? .p}JNotati'Ve ot what 26 mID7 oiIMN'. Schools of pabrt1Dl, wllere me" p'O:t1l8 lad ereat:t:9'8 expI"el.lon were ~led 'by the ellloDs of tbe ;~ad. .. . t11tepe(f tlrrouah the m1Dd of the _st .. lID.&tl" whoIl aee at'fJd1ee, worab1ppiq a set n:rle, ... k1nl the Sal.-. 8ppranl-all of " • • W1'e to 'be .blame. 'by the aew pabRe~. ot tbe DlO':lft'l'i art. 'fbi. 'Phen~, ~r, or. em ot tltdElI'Il'OUP" f4 paa1nten betweD the lION t .... aad a1dllid "'1ft, c .... ..,. probl ... to ,be an lli.norian today. ladeed, tbts 1. the problell that .. are expl.d.lliDg aad tleacri1dJsc in this chapter. Bi!tol"18JUJ fttd-,. teDd to call neb plltatte"_ ~arllM", "l$ while tbe lIOCIem artlat. at the period looked 1IPOIl thea often •• haapM-O!l,. . to be Ip\'IVD8d beeause they dl'PP&d thelP :ld. .. Is. On tbe ot.r bind, tbe colleetors of thl penod looked ~ t._ .e tlJ.Md:!atore tt or-perbape "cOlllPJ'Cllld.MH," and mI.lt7 1ld.atootc tbeir de!"l't'lltift 1"1. fM' the rdl ' l' d.!Ia. ht let •• retana to tbe eOllNe or lIbMteqth om..., Fnmch art, fop 0IllT 'If'heD. .. .. Mea the whole phel'lOllilmoa in p8~lw w111 tld.a PJ'Oblem. tab oaadded I~. Alt~ ~ Delacrou had Jlllde Ma 1I8rk 011 the Id.nde aad beRt. of' the. . aeue1'8t1011 ot r1I1DI rounI IlOdeft artiste,16 1t we. nal17 the Barbiaoft ICbool that 1t1alated tllnl and drofe thell OIl. A, tar back. 1 1836, fheoc!ore RO'UHau ltac'! Httled tit the vUl. of ~t._ iD the FOII'ta1:nebldu taftat. 11 A~ bill IIftd the little dlla. .. ~beNd the palate" DtaI, .Hillet, Daa'bf.py, and ott and. on, Corot. The. .. . _de up the t1Pft ~ t. ,0 d1reetlr to eat ... fM' the1P 81tetchal. III the beciDn1ng, DOllS of ttelll aetualq worked in the open, bat rather worked • their d~1 aDtJ "t"hel aM the 0 ...... 1, 0DlT to\tCthed oadOGN, _. t1tlilhed lat•e!' 1a \be1r " .. 11_. 18 lIouItJ .. ne the _tie ... ul0'Cl8 dra.ttSl'llSn of the I""IPt utq low-keyed colore. Dial emelled 18 fteor.t.bar wood~ 1Bterlere U8iah. .. . of 11ght or atn,. t:4 .ky ahbling tturourh the However, no other writers of that period &eell to know of Michel. rhe work 01' Buet and Corot il tben desoribed. Paul Huet 80 loved nllttl'r"e that he and a friend spent a ,reat deal of t t. 8tu.dy1ac it ira a campsite on Se~ Island in the Seiae. s.t we are not at all certaill that Hut painted. 30 from nat't:ll'e, though be moat probably did some sketching. Another art book published in 188S, entitled!!!. Gallerz 2!. Contempora!l ~f pvports to liT'':; US an illustrated. review of works "chiefly of the present deoade. u31 iuet is mentioned in a 8'tlJ"V'ey...

Victorian Studies, 2009

Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, 2019

2017

The author returns, full circle, to view the argument presented in the opening chapter of the book from an alternative perspective: within the terms of the creative act, "the art historian" brings about the artist's consecration-identification by including his work in the established tradition. This occurs, Duchamp argues, after a temporal delay of roughly fifty years, what he terms a "rehabilitation." The exact logic of the rehabilitation is described as a "pruning" process: a work is made to fit the given canon by being viewed through the prism of specific aesthetic criteria. What Duchamp effectively describes is the procedure outlined by T.S. Eliot, the operation underpinning the reception of Fountain, the art historian's role in the creative act now evident one hundred years later.

The State of Art Criticism, 2008