About the book
Tom Wolfe's 1975 book of art criticism argues that modern art had drifted from visual experience and more and more become an illustration of critics' theories. He takes aim at Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol, but his main targets are three critics he dubbed the kings of Cultureburg: Harold Rosenberg, Leo Steinberg and Clement Greenberg. In his account, unlike literature, which anyone can buy, the art world answered to a closed circle of rich collectors, museums and critics. Wolfe offers his own history of modern painting shedding realism, representation and finally paint itself, through Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Op and Minimal art to Conceptual Art. Harper's Magazine excerpted it before book publication.
After Tom Wolfe died, Brad Feld began working through his essential books with this one, calling it a delightfully scathing take on modern art and saying he loved it.
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This book has 1 recommendation
Brad Feld (Co-Founder/Foundry Group)
The world lost a great writer recently when Tom Wolfe died. So I bought the Five Essential Tom Wolfe Books You Should Read. I hadn’t read The Painted Word so I started with it. It’s a deliciously scathing criticism of modern art, circa 1975. I loved it.
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