Revealing Art

'A fine discussion of one of the most important topics in aesthetics: the value of art. Its arguments and conclusions are both original and accessible to a broad audience.' - Robert Stecker, author of Artworks: Meaning, Definition, Value 'Matthew Kieran offers an urbane, broad-minded, humanistic vision of the enduring values of art from Poissin to Matisse, to conceptualism, delighting in the multi-facetedness of art and quietly admonishing those with moralistic or fashion-driven prejudices.' - Peter LeMarque, author of Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art 'Kieran has a particularly useful chapter on art and morality ...' - Anna James, Financial Times ' ... the arguments set out in this even-handed and intelligent book provide welcome clarification of a subject which all too often falls prey to muddled and prejudiced thinking.' - The Art Newspaper 'This is a handsomely produced volume. It has a compact size that easily fits into a coat pocket. Its paper is heavy and glossy. Best of all it contains numerous illustrations, many in colour, so that one can often see what Kieran is talking about in his numerous examples.' - Robert Stecker, The British Journal of Aesthetics '...the arguments set out in this even-handed and intelligent book provide welcome clarification of a subject which all too often falls prey to muddled and prejudiced thinking.' - The Art Newspaper '...Kieran is a philosopher with the nerve of an art critic, who, in the manner of Arthur Danto, comfortably exchanges his roles...Revealing Art brings forth with vivid detail the durable effects of artworks and makes strong case for the power and complexity of art' - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism '...a model of how to write analytical philosophy in a plain and accessible style without sacrificing philosophical precision or a winning literary style. It will be accessible, interesting and stimulating to undergraduates and teachers within a number of disciplines and indeed to a general reader with a curiosity in why we value art. Many basic and complex positions are explained, defended and criticised so that any reader will be prepared for further discussion of individual positions with a sound basis of their attractions and pitfalls. I would recommend this book to anyone, and especially to those with an interest and knowledge of visual art but less immersion in the philosophical literature that surrounds them.' Journal of Visual Art Practice 'Revealing Art is a lively exploration of questions concerning value in art. Matthew Kieran presents a series of engaging arguments illuminated by examples drawn from across the history of European visual art, from the Roettgen Piet to Poussin's The Adoration of the Golden Calf to Gillian Wearing's Signs series... As a result, the book will have something to offer to specialists and non-specialists alike.' - Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

Matthew Kieran is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Leeds, UK. His is the co-editor of Imagination, Philosophy and the Arts (2003) and the editor of Media Ethics (1998), both published by Routledge.

Introduction 1. Is Art Sacred? 2. Beauty Resurrected 3. Revealing Art 4. Art and Morality 5. The Truth in Humanism