Writing After Art – Richard Shiff

An expansive anthology of the critic and art historian Richard Shiff’s most influential writings, which have shaped today’s understanding of twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. “To see a work, to gather it in as sensation, is less than knowing it, less than classifying it, less than theorizing it….But seeing art, or sensing it by some other means, also becomes more than knowing it. To prolong sensory involvement with a work of art preserves its greatest potential.”  In his engaging and penetrating observations on modern and contemporary visual art, Shiff has written about an impressive range of creative forces, including Willem de Kooning, Marlene Dumas, Jasper Johns, Donald Judd, Barnett Newman, Pablo Picasso, Bridget Riley, and Peter Saul. A leading scholar and powerful voice, Shiff offers insight into prominent artistic practices that span generations and approaches, as seen in this considered selection of essays on twenty-seven artists. These writings first appeared in exhibition catalogues for institutions including the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Tate Modern. Shiff supplements his unquestionable fluency in art history with perspectives cultivated from his readings in philosophy, phenomenology, literary theory, and psychoanalysis, among other fields. Shiff’s writing—conceptually rich, meditative, and enjoyable to read—is attuned to the nuances of artistic style and technique, drawing out art’s social implications not merely from broad histories but also directly from artists’ mark making and technical gestures. Actively engaged as a viewer and a writer, Shiff has transformed the act of looking at art into contemplative and captivating writing.