Art and capital: An ironic dialectic

Journal/Book: Crit Rev. 1995; 9: PO Box 1254, Danbury, CT 06813-1254. Critical Review Foundation. 465-482.

Abstract: Martha Woodmansee's The Author, Art, and the Market misunderstands the concept of autonomous art: it does not deny art's instrumental role in life, but rather reconceives this role as essentially psychological. The work of art becomes an emblem of self-control, and as such of great social import. But as Richard Goldthwaite's Wealth and the Demand for Art in Italy suggests, this role is traduced by the tendency of capitalism increasingly to eschew the high art exemplified by the Renaissance when there is money to be made in unchallenging, trashy popular culture.

Note: Article D Kuspit, 38 W 26TH St, New York, NY 10010 USA

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