Nothing if Not Critical

Nothing If Not Critical
by Robert Hughes

Discussion Questions

1. "The worst insult you can offer an artist is to tell him how good he used to be." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

2. Hughes asserts that, "In painting, innovation means nothing without a vital sense of the past." Do you think this statement is still true relative to painting today?

3. In the chapter on Giorgio Morandi, Hughes explains that still life "was a symbol of appropriation. It declared the owner's power to seize and keep the real stuff of the world." Explain how appropriation in art has changed over the years.

4. Why are there no successful Pollock forgeries?

5. Regarding Norman Rockwell, Hughes opines, "He never made an impression on the history of art, and never will. But on the history of mass communication--and on the popular self-image of America--his mark was deep, and will remain indelible." Why did Rockwell not make an impression on the history of art? Do you agree with Hughes's statement?

6. "To what extent did Rothko's suicide confer a profundity on the paintings that, had he lived, they might not quite have had?" Discuss the meaning of this quote in the context of the Rothko trial.