AICA-USA Lecture

In her far-reaching exploration of the art critic’s insights into every aspect of contemporary art, including performance, installation and video, Linda Nochlin pointedly refutes those who doubt the ability of art critics to assess the range of new media. In the course of this examination, she also distinguishes between the goals of the art critic and those of the art historian in terms of audiences and intention. What are the obligations of the critic, and what are the pleasures in writing criticism? Nochlin concludes this probing analysis with references to her own approach as a critic considering a wide range of artists, from Courbet and Manet through Lucien Freud, Jenny Saville and Sam Taylor-Wood.

Dr. Linda Nochlin is the Lila Acheson Wallace Professor of Modern Art at the Institute of Fine Arts/New York University. She has previously held professorial chairs at Yale, at the City University of New York, and at Vassar College. She is known for her critical writings that focus attention on social and political issues in art. Her many honors include the Frank Jewett Mather Award for Critical Writing, NEH and Guggenheim Fellowships, a Scholar of the Year designation by the New York State Council on the Humanities and numerous honorary doctorates. She delivered the Norton Lectures at Harvard in 2004. Dr. Nochlin is a Contributing Editor of Art in America and a longtime member of AICA-USA.

AICA was founded in the wake of World War II to protect the openness of global discourse in the arts. There are now chapters in 64 countries currently promoting art criticism and its insights into contemporary culture. AICA-USA, with a nationwide membership, contributes significantly to the current dialogue.

This is the second AICA-USA Distinguished Critic Lecture at The New School, an annual event addressing current issues in the world of art criticism. It is presented by the International Association of Art Critics (AICA: Associations Internationale des Critiques d’Art) in collaboration with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics.