Embodied Meanings: Critical Essays and Aesthetic Meditations

Danto's philosophically informed art criticism in these 41 reviews and essays bristles with erudition, eclectic taste and keen intellect. He evinces fresh perspectives and generous sympathies whether he is discussing Old Masters like Titian and Velazquez; moderns such as Picasso, Seurat and Kasimir Malevich; contemporary painters Francis Bacon and David Hockney; or sacred Tibetan art. Female artists are well-represented here, with perceptive pieces on Eva Hesse, Jenny Holzer, Helen Frankenthaler (whose paintings Danto compares to ``inspired jazz''), Liubov Popova and Madeline Gins, who collaborates with her husband, Arakawa, on conceptual explorations of thought and writing. Professor emeritus of philosophy at Columbia and art critic for the Nation (where most of the selections first appeared), Danto sets forth meditations on contemporary aesthetics, the limits of art as a moral, suasive force and the role of the museum in shaping an image of a culture. (May)