The painted word
by Tom Wolfe, Harold N Cropp · first published 1975
9mentions
6recommended by
9HN commenters
2012–2022first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A short, witty critique of modern art and its reliance on critical theory and verbal framing. It is sharp and funny, and useful for anyone curious about the sense and nonsense of contemporary art.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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…phase" to get to their "weird scribbly splotchy phase" which is the real lottery ticket. Perhaps more importantly, the critics needs something to say about art, or they won't say anything. See "The Painted Word" by Tom Wolfe
on “Picasso's self portrait evolution from age 15 to age 90” ↗An informative read is The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe (yes, that white suit wearing writer). It's a fairly short book, and written from personal experience in the art world. He talks about the evolution of art toward something that can only…
on “I don't "get" art” ↗For anyone remotely interested in the sense and nonsense of modern art amd and architecture I strongly recommend Wolfe's "The Painted Word" and "From our House to Bauhaus". Both extremely funny and sharp.
on “Tom Wolfe Has Died” ↗…vigor. Jimmy Breslin on JFK's assassination. Peter Maas and Serpico. Norman Mailer running for mayor of the "51st State" In addition to all the excellent suggestions on this page. Also check out The Painted Word (1975). Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Tom Wolfe and The Painted Word https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5NBoe5qHRE Art of Fiction Interview with George Plimpton https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/15/tom-wolfe-193...
on “Tom Wolfe Has Died” ↗"The talent required for modern art is not in creating it, but in describing it." There's a short, funny book called The Painted Word by Tom Wolfe that goes into this quite nicely, that it's not about art at all in today's contemporary art world.
on “How a gray painting can break your heart” ↗I've enjoyed an amazing book of calligraphic art for many years, The Painted Word. Beautiful and colourful designs, some of which also incorporate (how to describe?!) paper carving/cutting. http://davewood.com.au/books/view/the-painted-word
on “Two Intricate Calligraphy Pages from a 16-Century Manuscript Have Been Decoded” ↗Another commenter noted on one of my posts that the art world has been corrupt for a long time. Tom Wolfe, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Word talks about how New York Times Hilton Kramer worked to convince conservative and boring rich collectors who really rather buy Norman Rockwell paintings that it was OK to buy modern art. NFTs are dangerous…
on “An astrobiologist says NFTs do not bode well for our species’s future” ↗…linear perspective for the visual arts ... By mid-century, with a few admirable exceptions, the modern art world seemed determined to make itself the butt of jokes, as Tom Wolfe memorably described in The Painted Word (1975). I personally like modern art more then renaissance, but that is personal taste - what I find fun. The big reason for abstraction being the thing in art is that realism is largely figured out.…
on “The Decadent Society: How We Became the Victims of Our Own Success” ↗Tom Wolfe (RIP) wrote "The Painted Word" in 2008 which pretty well summarized all this. Those can make art, make art. Those who can't, write artist's statements. And those who can't do that, write impenetrable essays about it.
on “The work of art in the age of second-order observation” ↗