You do not currently have permission to view the full text for this document. Please sign in to an account with an active subscription or contact support.
This is a collection of 30 essays by Donald Kuspit, Professor of Art History and Philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, staff member of Artforum, and editor of Art Criticism. While most were published between 1983 and 1991, (two, on Max Ernst and Jackson Pollock, are new; two have been expanded), the thinking of a distinguished scholar is now readily available for psychoanalysts interested in interdisciplinary studies. Accordingly, one approaches this book with high expectations together with some qualms about the task of reviewing it.
Both turned out to be warranted. The topics are diverse and challenging. The numerous references to works of art, art philosophers and critics may be intimidating, but also illuminating. The appreciation of Freud's work is deep yet soundly critical. The treatment of later analytic contributors, on the other hand, is uneven, superficial, or overlooked despite relevance. Narcissistic sensitivities aside, however, there is much to be learned and reading it is heartily recommended.
The main thesis is that modern art affirms subjectivity and postmodern art cannot escape it. The book is divided into three parts: traditional modern art, contemporary European art, and theoretical considerations. For me, at any rate, the underlying themes that run across these divisions are the pathology and health of art; art and self-cure by individuation; and the role of affect.
All three come together in the opening essay on Gauguin. Gauguin diagnosed society as suffering from the decay imposed by civilization, namely, alienation from the world of feeling. His prescription: “art is…to recover the primitive core of…perception” (p. 5), permits the violence of emotions to escape from reason,