The Dialectic of Decadence: Between Advance and Decline in Art - Tapa blanda

In The Dialectic of Decadence, Kuspit disentangles misconceptions of decadence generated by the notion of advance in art. He asserts that any attempt in modern art to renounce expressionism and the pursuit of meaning in figurative art is in itself a result of discontentment and decadence a loss of faith in history to tell its own story. Using a psychoanalytic approach, Kuspit topples Minimalist decrees most forcefully expressed by Donald Judd. Kuspit demonstrates that the "decadent" pursuits of artists like Sandro Chia and Georg Baselitz are rooted in the avant-garde unconscious. He demonstrates how modern art's internal battle with decadence is in fact a battle with itself, its own cause for existence. The Dialectic of Decadence is a work of insight into the way modernity and, for that matter, postmodernity try to extinguish the past, only to fuel its power further, and how the dialectic between them between advance and decadence is essential to creation.

A study of contradictions in the visual arts from one of America's art critics, this work examines the pivotal conflict between expressionistic art and the pursuit of abstract purity. The moment one side of the dialectic is asserted as dominant, the other immediately rises up to reverse the delicate balance. Through argument and illustrations, Donald Kuspit investigates opposition between a host of central figures, including Donald Judd versus the "new expressionists", particularly Georg Baselitz. Exploration of this universal dialectic also encompasses literary theory, lending wider relevance to the discussion. The volume offers a perspective on the history of art for artists, art historians, art critics, and students of art and literature alike.