How is art criticism to be understood within an expanding artistic field? A look at its history and its manifestations within globalized conditions shows the variety of the genre, of the criteria and of the styles of writing. This reader is an attempt to bring a diverse range of art-critical voices and perspectives into conversation with each other, with texts from the 18th century to the present. The editors Beate Söntgen and Julia Voss have invited colleagues from various geographical and intellectual backgrounds to present and discuss the art critics of their choice, choosing one example from their respective bodies of work to comment upon. How have these writers approached art criticism? Which styles do they employ? What makes them extraordinary? What can we learn from their writings today, and why is it important in its contemporary context?BEATE SÖNTGEN (*1963) is professor of art history at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She studied art history, philosophy, and modern German literature in Marburg and Berlin. She is director of the DFG Research Training Group "Cultures of Critique: Forms, Media, Effects" and co-director of the program "PriMus - Doctoral Studies in Museums."JULIA VOSS (*1974) is an honorary professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg. She studied art history, modern German literature, and philosophy in Berlin and London. She is herself an art critic and journalist and was deputy head of the arts section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

InhaltForewordWhy Art Criticism? An IntroductionPassion, Performance, and Soberness: Denis Diderot - Beate SöntgenIn Conversation: Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim - Johannes GraveEmotional Collectivities: Julius Meier-Graefe - Stephanie MarchalThe Leak: Berta Zuckerkandl - Julia VossCrafts and the Spiritual: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy - Monica JunejaPractical Formalist: Roger Fry - Beate SöntgenAgitation: Sergei Tretyakov - Valerija KuzemaSnapshot: Alexander Rodchenko - Margarete VöhringerDecomposition: Georges Bataille - Malte RauchDecolonizing Art History: Ananda K. Coomaraswamy - Parul Dave MukherjiAdvocating the Collective: Luis Vidales - Camilo Sarmiento JaramilloMaterialism and Proximity: Francis Ponge - Isabelle GrawCensorship and the Authorial "I": Lothar Lang - Valerie Hortolani and Valerija KuzemaTrespasser of Gatekeeping: Oscar Masotta - Juli CarsonEmbedded Chronicler: Victor Hakim - Monique BellanUndisciplined: Peter Gorsen - Thorsten SchneiderIn Drag: Mary Josephson - Astrid ManiaSelf-Reflective Connectivity: Lawrence Alloway - Beatrice von BismarckVulnerability and Resistance: Marta Traba - Florencia MalbránFellow-Feeling: Roland Barthes - Sarah WilsonDocumentation as Dialogue: Allan Sekula - Michael F. ZimmermannDeculturization: Annemarie Sauzeau-Boetti - Sabeth BuchmannComing Together: Demas Nwoko and New Culture - Azu NwagboguGathering Voices, Feeling Relations: Arlene Raven - Oona LochnerDrawing Another Line: Je¨a Denegri - Maja and Reuben FowkesChronopolitical Intervention: Mark Sinker - Ana Teixeira PintoA Drifting Mind: Lynne Tillman - Isabel MehlCriteria Against All Odds: Stefan Germer - Peter GeimerDecentering: Igor Zabel - Maja and Reuben FowkesTactics of Alienation: Walid Sadek - Ghalya SaadawiArt Historiography: Vardan Azatyan - Angela HarutyunyanHatchet Job: Julia Voss - Wolfgang KempBridging Borders: Helia Darabi - Anita HosseiniThrough the Digital Looking Glass: Hito Steyerl - Ying Sze PekThe Cultural Logic of Financialization: Melanie Gilligan - Holger KuhnCamp and Credit Cards: Takashi Kashima - Yuriko FuruhataNearly Unbiased: Patrick Mudekereza - Julia GrosseRetroactivity: Peter Richter - Andreas BeyerTroll: Anonymous - Miriam RaschQueering: Adwait Singh - Rebecca JohnCulture and Capital: Claire Bishop - Anna KipkeMerging: Enos Nyamor - Yvette MutumbaFollow the Money: Aruna D'Souza - David MieleckeReviews from 4Columns - Aruna D'SouzaThe Series: Jennifer Higgie - Julia VossBiographiesBibliographyIndex of NamesColophon and credits