Art and its Objects

Richard Wollheim's classic reflection on art considers central questions regarding expression, representation, style, the significance of the artist's intention and the essentially historical nature of art. Presented in a fresh series livery for the twenty-first century, with a specially commissioned preface written by Richard Eldridge, illuminating its continuing importance and relevance to philosophical enquiry, Art and its Objects continues to be a perceptive and engaging introduction to the questions and philosophical issues raised by works of art and the part they play in our culture and society. Wollheim's insights into theories of art, criticism, perception and the nature of aesthetic value make this one of the most influential works on aesthetics of the twentieth century.

Preface to this edition Richard Eldridge; Preface to the second edition; The argument; Art and its objects; Supplementary essays; 1. The Institutional theory of art; 2. Are the criteria of identity for works of art aesthetically relevant?; 3. A note on the physical object hypothesis; 4. Criticism of retrieval; 5. Seeing-as, seeing-in and pictorial representation; 6. Art and evaluation; Bibliography.

Richard Wollheim (1923–2003) was one of the leading philosophers of aesthetics in the twentieth century. He was Chair of the Philosophy Department at the University of California, Berkeley until 2002.