Page 24 - Studio Interantional - May 1967

The critic 14. The critic should remember that all art is based 34. Criticism always reflects changing ideas about
on experience, however remotely.
art It advances as history advances, creating new
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terminology and concepts. Critical values change
and his purpose 15. Criticism distinguishes between the conscious in accordance with the art that is available.
and the unconscious intentions of the artist.
35. We always reach out for what we need. Different
16. Criticism must see beyond superficial decor to epochs reveal different aspects of reality: hence
spiritual purpose and order. the changes in the interpretation of meaning in art.
17. The critic should understand the limitations of 36. Just as the principles embodied in the art of the
the medium and have a sense of the interplay of past cannot be revived, neither can the criteria of
the medium with the subject, but he should not the past.
get lost in the discussion of techniques. Technical
Students of the criticism 'murders to dissect'. 37. Baudelaire and Ruskin revolutionized criticism by
Royal College of Art, London their direct concern with the experience of the
18. Criticism should proceed from direct contact artist.
with the object.
38. The critical task today is (a) to question the pre-
19. The critic must react in order to evaluate. Every- mises on which the work is based and (b) to decide
Last year a group of R.C.A. students were
one reacts, but the critic observes his reactions whether it works in its own terms.
asked to define the qualities they expected of
and expresses them.
a critic, the considerations which should 39. A work should be analysed as part of its time and
govern critical judgements, and the role of 20. The critic must allow for the fact that his reaction environment. Familiarity with the category of ob-
criticism today. The replies were then will be biased by the context in which he experi- ject and the aims of the movement to which an
ences the work. artist belongs, and its place in the history of
collated, and similar views were combined
culture, are essential.
into single 'statements'. Contradictory views
21. Immediate reaction is dependent on nervous
were marked with an asterisk in the resultant energy and vitality. After that sensibility must 40. The critic's job has been to impose order on a
lengthy document. take over. Long acquaintance with a work is complex situation by labelling movements and
The following 'statements' constituted three therefore essential. The work itself may have counter-movements.
been long maturing.
sections of the completed document.
41. The critic who excludes that which is novel is
22. The critic must get outside himself to criticize merely a preservationist.
CRITICAL METHOD
fully. He must abandon built-in expectations and
have a sense of possibilities. 42. In criticizing the works of earlier epochs the critic
1. The critic should be a master of words-half
must ask how his own view might differ from that
writer, half philosopher, preferably an artist as
23. Criticism has this in common with drawing or of the artist's contemporaries.
well.
painting, that one statement leads to another and
so an idea is built up. 43. Assessment of a work is easier when the move-
2. Some of the skills of the critic are intuitive, some
ment it belongs to is out of fashion.
can be learned. Judgement improves with exer-
24. Criticism is concerned with the proportions of the
cise and experience.
constituent elements in a work of art, a study of
CRITICISM IN THE CONTEMPORARY SITUATION
the interrelationship of parts.
3. A simple 'like' or 'dislike' reaction is not criticism.
Criticism requires knowledge. 44. The task of criticism has changed since photo-
25. Criticism begins with a description of the impact graphytook over the function of realistic represen-
of a work of art and proceeds to consider its inten-
4. Criticism can be (a) historical: comparing move- tation. Photography has also relieved the critic of
ments and groups, describing styles, analysing tions and whether they have been realized. the task of extended description, and limited
techniques or (b) philosophical and evaluative or 26. The act of describing will reveal the critic's own space in journals has had the same effect.
(c) technical self-criticism by an artist.
biases. The description of phenomena plus the • 45. Painting has divorced itself increasingly from the
description of feelings equals the definition of
5. It is the duty of the critic to be aware of the concerns of the society in which it flourishes, but
stylistic development of art up to the present. values. the dialectic by which it does so has taken on the
density of a moral problem. Formal criticism has
27. The critic should consider the relation of a given
6. The artist's own explanations of his work are therefore become moral criticism. Modern paint-
helpful in interpreting it. work to the rest of the artist's oeuvre. ing is a criticism of itself.
28. The search for influences quickly degenerates
7. The critic has responsibility (a) towards the artist into meaningless name-dropping. 46. In this century each work of art defines its own
and (b) towards the public. limitations.
29. An interpretation of a work can still be valid even if
8. The content and level of criticism is determined 47. Content now depends on treatment rather than
by the audience addressed. it does not correspond with the artist's intentions. on subject matter, and it can consist simply of the
interrelationship of shapes..
30. The critic should deduce an artist's values from
9. The critic should not let the reputation of an artist
influence his views. his acts of selection. 48. Dada has called into question the concept of a
work of art.
31. Of two carefully considered but contrary opinions
10. Criticism must distinguish between style for
style's sake and genuine style. both may be right. 49. Every convention in art is now dispensable.
32. His moral conscience is the only check on the
11. Criticism cannot be objective, but should aim to be. 50. We are now multilingual in terms of style.
critic's freedom.
12. Criticism should be persuasive, not dogmatic. 51. Criticism can expound the significance of genuin-
CRITICISM AND THE HISTORICAL PROCESS
• ely exploratory art; and this exposition plays a role
13. The critic should discipline his prejudices and 33. The factors to which judgement is related should only a little less important than that of painting
remember that he is subject to error. • be constant and not transitory ideas. itself.