Dickie’s institutional theory of art Art-historical background The rapid succession of one art-historical movement after another in the 20th century The ongoing experimentation in 20th century art A brief glance at some of these movements & experiments Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 1

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Dada (1915-1922) Marcel Duchamp (American, b. France, 1887-1968) Surrealism (1924-1940) Paul Delvaux (Belgian, b. 1897) Abstract Expressionism (1945-1965) Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956) Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 2

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Franz Kline (U.S., 1903-1962) Helen Frankenthaler (American, b. 1928) Pop Art (1955-1970) Jasper Johns (U.S., b. 1930) Roy Lichtenstein (U.S., b. 1923) Andy Warhol (U.S., 1928-1987) Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 3

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Minimal Art (1960s) Ad Reinhardt (U.S., 1913-1967) Donald Judd (U.S., b. 1928) Carl André (U.S., b. 1935) Conceptual Art (1960s & 1970s) John Baldessari (U.S., b. 1931) Jenny Holzer (U.S., b. 1950) Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 4

Dickie’s institutional theory of art The New Realism (1965- ?) Richard Estes (U.S., b. 1936) Chuck Close (U.S., b. 1940) Philip Pearlstein (U.S., b. 1924) Recent trends Christo (Bulgarian, U.S., b. 1935) Susan Rothenberg (U.S., b. 1945) Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 5

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Anselm Kiefer (German, b. 1945) Jenny Holzer (U.S., b. 1950) Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 6

Dickie’s institutional theory of art George Dickie’s instutitional theory of art b. 1926 Professor of Philosophy at the University of Illinois-Chicago From Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis. Ithaca: NY: Cornell UP, 1974. Rejects the neo-Wittgensteinian argument of Morris Weitz that art cannot be defined. Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 7

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Weitz’s argument Art is an open concept-- is open in part because of the emphasis on creativity in art But the inability to define art should not raise any philosophical anxieties because there is an alternative way of identifying art--by the family-resemblance method Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 8

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Dickie proposes that essentialist theories of art can usually be extended to take account of new forms of art. Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 9

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Dickie’s attempt to construct an essential definition of art With the turn away from representational art, we know know that representation is not the essence of art. And it is not some feature of the art object which makes it a work of art because there are no “exhibited” features shared by all works of art. Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 10

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Thus we need to look at nonexhibited properties. The notion of the “artworld” Made up of many system & subsystems -- e.g.s, theater, music, painting & Dada, Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art E.g., of Duchamp & Dada & ready-mades Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 11

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Dickie’s definition of art: “A work of art in the classificatory sense is (1) an artifact (2) a set of the aspects of which has had conferred upon it the status of candidate for appreciation by some person or persons acting on behalf of a certain social institution (the artworld)” (229). Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 12

Dickie’s institutional theory of art (1) Artifact (2) Act of conferring Analogy to legal conferral (3) The institution Who is included? Essential core (4) Candidate for appreciation Is there a special aesthetic appreciation? Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 13

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Additional comments (not in Wartenberg selection) What about natural objects? Can they ever be works of art? What about a work created by a non-human animal? Can it be a work of art? Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 14

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Dickie’s claims that the institutional theory enhances art. How? Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 15

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Critical evaluation of Dickie’s theory On the differences between the Institutional theory & other theories The only theory which does not appeal to a feature of the art object The only theory which takes into account the context of the work of art--specifically, the artworld. Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 16

Dickie’s institutional theory of art Is membership in the artworld too easy? Is the act of conferring too easy? The disanalogy between conferring on an object the status of art & other types of conferring? Does the theory allow too much as art? Provides no lead for standards for evaluation Dickie's institutional theory of art ~ slide 17