Description
Book SynopsisDanto argues that recent developments in art—in particular the production of works that cannot be told from ordinary things—make urgent the need for a new theory of art. He demonstrates the relationship between philosophy and art and the connections that hold between art, social institutions, and art history.
Trade ReviewThis book is a long meditation on Brillo boxes putting themselves forward as works-of-art, or, ‘gerrymandered’ (Danto raids everywhere for his brilliant figurations) by interpretation into expressiveness, into metaphoricality. Malraux proposes seeing art as a metamorphosis performed by museums and juxtaposition and time (history). Danto proposes art as a metaphor of the commonplace. Art makes obvious things odd; it paradoxicalizes the ordinary. It defamiliarizes. Danto is fun… Buy it and read. * Commonweal *
One of the most philosophically interesting books to date in the philosophy of art. Concerned with defining ‘work of art’…Danto demonstrates an enviable breadth of knowledge in both philosophy and art history. The result is a volume that is certain to be at the center of discussion in this area in the coming years. -- Marcia M. Eaton * Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism *
By focusing on the question ‘How do banal objects become transfigured into works of art?,’ the author exposes the definitive qualities of a work of art… The book contains an excellent discussion of ‘style’ in art. Danto both builds on and challenges some of the basic tenets of Nelson Goodman… This book will be heard of for some time to come. * Choice *
Table of Contents*1. Works of Art and Mere Real Things *2. Content and Causation *3. Philosophy and Art *4. Aesthetics and the Work of Art *5. Interpretation and Identification *6. Works of Art and Mere Representations *7. Metaphor, Expression, and Style * Index
