Books › The painted word
The painted word
First published 1975 · 144 pages
A sharp, exuberant takedown of the modern art world that argues theory has entirely eclipsed the canvas.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting at a bar with the smartest, most cynical cultural critic in the room as they gleefully dismantle an entire industry's pretensions. The pace is brisk and breathless, propelled by an exuberant, highly punctuated prose style that refuses to take its subject seriously. It is a deeply irreverent, gossipy, and intellectually charged experience that strips away the intimidating aura of high culture to reveal the absurdities underneath. You are swept along on a wave of satirical energy, moving from amused skepticism to laughing vindication. It will absolutely delight skeptics of the avant-garde, lovers of sharp social commentary, and anyone who has ever stared at a blank canvas in a museum and thought they were missing the joke.
- Mood
- cynical
- energetic
- gossipy
- intellectually charged
- Tone
- satirical
- irreverent
- wry
- provocative
- exuberant
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- cultural elitism · intellectual pretension · the absurdity of the art world · theory versus aesthetics
- The writing
- The signature New Journalism style is hyper-energetic, heavily punctuated, and dripping with conversational sarcasm.
- The arc
- The reader is swept from amused curiosity into a state of cynical, laughing vindication as the curtain is pulled back on high culture.
- Who it's for
- Readers who suspect the modern art world is an elaborate inside joke and love seeing pretentious institutions mercilessly skewered.
Content notes
- discussions of classism and elitism
About the book
ALL THE MAJOR MODERN MOVEMENTS EXCEPT FOR de Stijl, Dada, Contructivism, and Surrealism began before the First World War, and yet they all seem to come out of the 1920s.
Description from Open Library.
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