Must Matters of Taste Not Be Disputed?

Must Matters of Taste Not Be Disputed?

Beauty & Imitation : A Philosophical Reflection on the Arts By Daniel McInerny. Word on Fire Academic, 2024. Hardcover, 448 pages, $34.95. Reviewed by Rev. Joseph Scolaro. In matters of taste, there can be no dispute. Or can there? This expression, as common as it...
Portrait of an Artist

Portrait of an Artist

Gwen John: Art and Life in London and Paris By Alicia Foster. Thames & Hudson, 2023. Hardcover, 272 pages, $39.95. Reviewed by Sean McGlynn. The work of the Welsh artist Gwen John (1876-1939) has recently re-emerged from relative obscurity. This is due to two fine...
The Renaissance Reimagined

The Renaissance Reimagined

The Beauty and the Terror: The Italian Renaissance and the Rise of the West by Catherine Fletcher. Oxford University Press, 2020. Hardcover, 384 pages, $30. Reviewed by Clayton Trutor Not all that long ago, the Renaissance was common cultural terrain in American life....
The Quality of Objects

The Quality of Objects

Art and Objects by Graham Harman. Polity, 2019. Hardcover, 240 pages, $70 (Paper, $25). Reviewed by Scott Beauchamp One of the most dreadful afflictions of our time is not being able to tell where things begin or end. Or if they have an autonomous “self” at all. You...
Good Taste May Save the World

Good Taste May Save the World

Aesthetics: Volume I by Dietrich von Hildebrand. Hildebrand Press, 2016. Paperback, 508 pages, $20. Aesthetics: Volume II by Dietrich von Hildebrand Hildebrand Press, 2019. Paperback, 608 pages. $20. Reviewed by Andrew Thompson-Briggs One of the rituals peculiar to...