In The De-Definition of Art, Harold Rosenberg deconstructs the visual arts world with all its artists coexisting with museums and art historians of the Modern and Contemporary Art eras. With historical context and interpretations, the historian packs a lot of detail in this tiny paperback book. Motifs, styles, profiles, and advances in creating art, Rosenberg looks over them all. While the book came out in 1972, the commentary he provides still holds relevance. From museums’ wishy-washy stances to the diverse choices artists can make when creating art, it verges on prophetic. At the last chapters, Rosenberg then asks, where does this chaotic world go from here? I still think the art world has not answered this question yet, nor do I think it should.
I recommend owning this book. Rosenberg makes for an engaging writer and for a lover of modern and contemporary art, his prose will give incredible pleasure. Furthermore, Rosenberg writes combining genuine love and with occasional humor that tinges with snark. This book does have a couple of flaws. He misspelled Walter Gropius’s last name and the last chapter seems to flail about wildly between praising Earthworks and other concepts that left me scratching my head.
Art History Ramblings 