![]() An editor expects a certain objectivity from his reviewers, while an art gallery wants that catalogue writing support its commercial work. Right now when the major dealers are very prosperous and journalism is beleaguered, inevitably catalogue writing has become important. And writing of exhibition catalogues, which is sometimes very well paid, is commissioned for an art gallery. ![]() Such books have the traditional apparatus of notes and bibliography. Academic writing is done for a publisher, sometimes subsidized by an artist or gallery. Reviewing is poorly paid journalism, usually short, edited by a journal editor, and generally written by independent scholars. In some ways the diverse features of these forms of writing are influenced by its funding. And, third, there are exhibition catalogues, writing commissioned by galleries or museums to support displays of well known figures. Then, when an artist becomes more well known, they become a subject for academic treatises, book-length scholarly accounts. There are exhibition reviews, generally relatively short quickly written commentaries. There are three rather diverse genres of art writing devoted to contemporary art. But, also, he has turned to writing about contemporary art. And so one might have expected Shiff to continue to write about European modernism. Most art historians focus on a particular period. Shiff traces the highly complex development of writing about Paul Cézanne, an especially challenging history because the artist’s apotheosis depended upon several generations of champions. Then I was a little disappointed to discover that in art history it was almost unique. I know Cézanne and the End of Impressionism very well, for when I started writing about art history, I studied it closely. Includes essays on Georg Baselitz, Mark Bradford, Georges Braque, Jim Campbell, Chuck Close, Willem de Kooning, Peter Doig, Marlene Dumas, Dan Flavin, Suzan Frecon, Lucian Freud, Ellen Gallagher, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Ellsworth Kelly, Brice Marden, Julie Mehretu, Barnett Newman, Pablo Picasso, Bridget Riley, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, Richard Tuttle, Cy Twombly, Jack Whitten, and Zeng Fanzhi.Trained at Yale University as an art historian, Richard Shiff published his doctoral thesis as Cézanne and the End of Impressionism: A Study of the Theory, Technique, and Critical Evaluation of Modern Art (1986). Actively engaged as a viewer and a writer, Shiff has transformed the act of looking at art into contemplative and captivating writing. Shiff’s writing-conceptually rich, meditative, and enjoyable to read-is attuned to the nuances of artistic style and technique, drawing out art’s social implications not merely from broad histories but also directly from artists’ mark making and technical gestures. Shiff supplements his unquestionable fluency in art history with insights cultivated from his readings in philosophy, phenomenology, literary theory, and psychoanalysis, among other fields. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and Tate Modern. These writings first appeared in exhibition catalogues for retrospectives at galleries and institutions including the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Solomon R. A leading scholar and powerful voice, Shiff’s insight into some of the most prominent artistic practices spans generation, place, and approach as seen in this considered selection of essays on twenty-six artists. In his engaging and often strikingly deep observations of major modern and contemporary visual art, Shiff has written about an impressive range of artists, including Willem de Kooning, Marlene Dumas, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Barnett Newman, Pablo Picasso, and Bridget Riley. “Elegantly designed as intended for broad readership, including art historians, art critics, artists, among other lovers of art, this volume is a must-read experience with pleasure and discovery." -Phong Bui, The Brooklyn Rail ![]() A broad and deep anthology of critic and art historian Richard Shiff’s most influential writings, which have shaped our understanding of twentieth- and twenty-first-century art.
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