Oct 16, 2009 12:49 PM
by James Panero
As the editor of Arts & Letters Daily, the webs finest online compendium, Denis Dutton has driven more traffic to The New Criterion that any other source. So I hope I can reciprocate by sending a few readers to Deniss provocative (and accurate) editorial on the diminishing returns of conceptual artists like Damien Hirst. Deniss op-ed appears in todays New York Times and comes out of his studies in art and human evolution, the subject of his book The Art Instinct (which John Derbyshire
wroteabout for us, Roger wrote about for the TLS, and I covered for City Journal). Denis writes:
Future generations, no longer engaged by our art "concepts" and unable to divine any special skill or emotional expression in the work, may lose interest in it as a medium for financial speculation and relegate it to the realm of historical curiosity.
The full article is available here.
( AHR-mah wih-ROOM-kweh)
In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age.
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