Teens/adults - Lesson 1: Why be a critic?
In Samuel Beckett’s masterpiece, Waiting for Godot, the two onstage protagonists hurl insults at each other. Back and forth they go: “Moron!”, “Vermin!”, “Cretin!”…, until Estragon cries out the most heinous thing he can think of, “Critic!” [1]
There’s an old saying, “Everybody’s a critic” and that’s not meant as a compliment. But that misses the point. Art critics are very important players in the creation and sharing of art. It’s inaccurate to think that critics are always negative. Quite the opposite. Their role is not larger than the artist’s, but critics often become a bridge of communication between artists and the public. Many artists struggle to articulate verbally what their work intends to do. Frequently, critics make the case for the artists, almost as proxies for them, by interpreting their work for viewers.
You’ve probably heard people say, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like.” Ok. That’s fine. But can you talk about why you like something? Or is the “I know what I like” comment a deflection to avoiding deeper thinking? The ability to put your reactions and thoughts into words is what Art Criticism is all about.
The word “critic” comes from the Greek, meaning “judge.” It has a negative connotation, but critics can be vital educators, advocates, and standard bearers. Benjamin Franklin said, “Our critics are our friends; they show us our faults.” Good criticism follows this equation written by Daniel Mendelsohn of The New Yorker, KNOWLEDGE + TASTE = MEANINGFUL JUDGMENT.”[2] Loving everything is not the answer, either. “You need a high degree of corruption or a very big heart to love absolutely everything,” wrote Gustave Flaubert. [3] Finally, Abraham Lincoln said, “Anybody will do for you, but not for me. I must have somebody.” [4]
Interpretation
Art Criticism in one of the four lens we use to look at art (Artmaking, Art History, Art Criticism, and Aesthetics). Think of Art Criticism as interpreting the work that you see. In that sense, everybody really is a critic. You are looking at something and trying to read it, to connect with it, to be affected by it. Conversely, if you choose to dismiss it, you are interpreting it in order to move on to something else that you hope will be more engaging.
What is art? That’s a big question. One way of thinking about it is as a consequence of looking at an object in a certain manner. Brent Wilson wrote about the collaboration between artist and viewer in this statement: “The physical art objects found in museums, art galleries, artists’ studios, and public spaces become works of art only when they are transformed from mere objects through mindful activity. The work of art is a physical art object or event that has been ‘worked’ experientially, or as [Arthur] Danto would say, has been interpreted as a work of art.” [5]
This unit, Interpret, explores the world of Art Criticism and provides some tools to mindfully explore things. You might want to start by reading.
Here are some extraordinary examples of Art Criticism books.
Robert Henri, The Art Spirit. Painter and illustrious art teacher Robert Henri’s perennial title appeared in 1923. Its main premise is that all creativity is cumulative. It builds on precedent, influence, and what came before it. He wrote, “All any man can hope to do is to add his fragment to the whole. No man can be final, but he can record his progress, and whatever he records is so much done in the thrashing out of the whole thing.” Amazon
John Berger, Ways of Seeing. Critic, dramatist, and novelist John Berger guides readers on the principle of seeing art, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak. But there is also another sense in which seeing comes before words. It is seeing which establishes our place in the surrounding world; we explain that world with words, but words can never undo the fact that we are surrounded by it. The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.” Ways of Seeing is often used as a college textbook. It was written in 1972 to accompany at BBC series of the same title. Amazon
Fairfield Porter, Art in Its Own Terms: Selected Criticism, 1935-1975. Porter was an artist as well as a critic, and his extra layer of insight into the creative process assists readers think like an artist might. Poet John Ashbery wrote of this book, “To read Fairfield Porter is to rediscover art through the eyes of someone whose intuitive love and understanding of it has been matched by few contemporaries. Amazon
Robert Hughes, The Shock of the New: The Hundred-Year History of Modern Art, Its Rise, Its Dazzling Achievement, Its Fall. The BBC created a documentary in 1980 about modern art written and presented by Robert Hughes, the influential art critic at Time magazine for 31 years. In this richly-illustrated, informative, and approachable volume, Hughes tells the story of art at the turn of the 20th century, and he includes topics such as the relationships between art and industry, war, power, and nature, the aspirations of arts, their internal worlds, art as a byproduct of popular culture, commercialization of art, and art that documented the dynamic changes of the 20th century. Amazon
Susan Sontag, On Photography. In 1977, Sontag won the National Book Critic Circle Award for On Photography. Written long before the age when every person carries a camera with them at all times (a phone), Sontag writes about the proliferation of images, the ways that photographs delineate national identities, aesthetics, and something she called—again, long before the social media world emerged—”chronic voyeuristic relation” to the world. Amazon
Peter Schjeldahl, Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, 100 Art Writings 1988-2018. Art critic Peter Schjeldahl has been the art critic for The New Yorker since 1998. In this volume of collected articles, he takes the reader along with him through exhibitions of Old Master, contemporary artists, comix, and much more. The art world scene can be a confusing place because of the sheer diversity of its offerings. In his writing, Schjeldahl introduces readers to artists and writes about art with clarity and openness. Amazon
Linda Nochlin, Women, Art, and Power and Other Essays. The collection includes Nochlin’s cri de coeur, “Why Are There No Great Women Artists?,” first published in 1971. It is considered by many, as Miriam va Rijsingen wrote, “the genesis of feminist art history.” This volume of 7 collected essays appeared in 1988. Amazon
Share with us
Are there other art criticism titles that you’d like to share? Send author, title, and your name to glen@centerforlatterdaysaintarts.org
[1] Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, first English language version published 1956, Faber & Faber.
[2] “A Critic’s Manifesto,” by Daniel Mendelsohn, The New Yorker, August 28, 2012.
[3] November, by Gustave Flaubert, 1842, his first completed work, a novella.
[4] Spoken by Lincoln March 3, 1862 in a conversation about the removal of General George B. McClellan.
[5] The Quiet Evolution: Changing the Face of Arts Education, by Brent Wilson, The Getty Education Institute for the Arts, 1997, p. 86.