Gang of art critics set out to conquer the 20th century
ABOVE: Cover of Art Since 1900
In the galaxy of pointlessness, coffee table books are the nebulae—large, brightly coloured, pleasant to look at, and totally without substance. This profile from The Observer is cause for hope, however: Art Since 1900 is a 700-page tome by four authors which chronicles 20th century art in a non-linear, interdisciplinary format, weaving in themes of psychoanalysis, political theory, social movements, and so on. They select individual artworks, manifestos, meetings, deaths, scandals, and other important moments in art history throughout each year and write essays on them, cross-referencing each other and tracing individual threads throughout the years and different movements.
The authors, Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, and Benjamin Buchloh, are, the Observer says, “formidably highbrow,” which frankly sounds like code for “insufferable.” But no matter whether you could stand having them sitting around your kitchen table, they are undeniably serious art critics, having all converged at the superlegitimate art theory journal October.
The subtitle of the book (’Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism’) indicates the breadth of the material that’s covered. The article is at least a good read, regardless of whether the book is.