The eminent critic Michael Fried discusses the philosophical stakes of the visual arts by reference to five books: Denis Diderot‘s Salons, Merleau-Ponty‘s Phenomenology of Perception, Stanley Cavell‘s Disowning Knowledge in Seven Plays by Shakespeare, the Cropper/Dempsey book on Poussin and Thomas Mann‘s Doctor Faustus. Fried is trying to wrap up phenomenology, analytic philosophy, modernism and painting in one arty package. A recommended read, if only for the contemplation of Fried’s massive ambition.
And, for fun, “59 Things You Didn’t Know About Virginia Woolf.” Who knew she cooked her wedding ring into a suet pudding?
Bat Terrier 