Donald Kuspit (born March 26, 1935) is an American art critic and poet, known for his practice of

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might be ...

art criticism. He has published on the subjects of

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

aesthetics,

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

, and

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

Education

Kuspit graduated from Columbia College in 1955, and earned a M.A. from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1958. He received his PhD in philosophy from the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University (german: link=no, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main) is a university located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was founded in 1914 as a citizens' university, which means it was founded and funded by the wealt ...

in 1960. Kuspit next taught at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

and became increasingly interested in art history. He earned a M.A. there in 1964. Kuspit is a

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

Scholar and has taught philosophy and American studies at

Saarland University Saarland University (german: Universität des Saarlandes, ) is a public research university located in Saarbrücken, the capital of the German state of Saarland. It was founded in 1948 in Homburg in co-operation with France and is organized in si ...

and

University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...

. He earned a PhD in art history from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1971.

Academic career

Teaching positions

Kuspit is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Art History and Philosophy at the

State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

and

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

. He was the A. D. White Professor-at-Large at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1991–1997). In 1983, he received an honorary doctorate in fine arts from Davidson College, in 1996 from the San Francisco Art Institute, and in 2007 from the New York Academy of Art. In 1998 he received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In 2005 he was the Robertson Fellow at the University of Glasgow. In 2008 he received the Tenth Annual Award for Excellence in the Arts from the

Newington-Cropsey Foundation The Newington-Cropsey Foundation (NCF) is a nonprofit private organization based in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. The foundation's aim is to maintain and preserve the works of Jasper Cropsey and the art movement he was a part of, the Hudson River ...

Awards and grants

He received the

Frank Jewett Mather Frank Jewett Mather Jr. (6 July 1868 – 11 November 1953) was an American art critic and professor. He was the first "modernist" (i.e., post-classicist) professor at the Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University. He was a direct desc ...

Award for Distinction in Art Criticism in 1983 (given by the College Art Association). In 1997, the National Schools of Art and Design presented him with a citation for Distinguished Service to the Visual Arts. In 2014 he was the first recipient of the Gabarron Foundation Award for Cultural Thought. He has received fellowships and grants from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the a ...

, and

Asian Cultural Council The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, AC ...

Art criticism

* The New Subjectivism: Art in the 1980s (1986) * The Inner Voice Visualized: Alfred DeCredico's Abstractions (1991) * The Cult of the Avant-Garde Artist (1992) * The Dialectic of Decadence (1993) * The Photography of

Albert Renger-Patzsch Albert Renger-Patzsch (June 22, 1897 – September 27, 1966) was a German photographer associated with the New Objectivity. Biography Renger-Patzsch was born in Würzburg and began making photographs by age twelve. After military service in the F ...

(1993) * Signs of Psyche in Modern and Postmodern Art (1994) * Primordial Presences: The Sculpture of Karel Appel (1994) * Szczesny (1995) * Health and Happiness in Twentieth Century Avant-Garde Art (1996) * Idiosyncratic Identities: Artists at the End of the Avant-Garde (1996) * Chihuly (1997) *

Jamali (artist) Jamali (born Aqdas Hussain Khan, Pakistan, 1944) is an American avant-garde artist. His artistic style has been termed Mystical Expressionism by art critic and historian Donald Kuspit. He is known for his unique, organic textures, experimental ...

(1997) *

Joseph Raffael Joseph Raffael (born February 22, 1933 in Brooklyn, NY - July 12, 2021 Cagnes-sur-Mer) was an American contemporary realist painter. His paintings, primarily watercolors, are almost all presented on a very large scale. Early life Raffael wa ...

(1998) * Daniel Brush (1998) *

Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...

(1998) * The Rebirth of Painting in the Late 20th Century (2000) * Psychostrategies of Avant Garde Art (2000) * Redeeming Art: Critical Reveries (2000) * Don Eddy (2002) *

Hunt Slonem Hunt Slonem (born Hunt Slonim, July 18, 1951) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker. He is best known for his Neo-Expressionist paintings of butterflies, bunnies, and his tropical birds, often based on a personal aviary in which he ha ...

(2002) * Hans Breder (2002) * Steven Tobin (2003) * April Gornik (2004) * The End of Art (2004) * F. Scott Hess (2006) * New Old Masters (2007) * William Conger (2008)Kuspit, Donald. “Always Abstractly True to Himself: William Conger’s Paintings,” ''William Conger: Paintings 1958–2008'', Chicago: City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, 2009, p.6–23. * Mia Brownell (2010) * Leigh Rivers Aerial Perspectives (2012) * Szczesny: Neue Wilden works from the 80s (2012) * Yvelyne Wood (2012) *

Michael Zansky Michael Zansky (born 1947, in the Bronx, New York) is an American artist working in installation art, sculpture, painting and photography. Early life Michael Zansky was born in 1947 in the Tremont section the Bronx, into the family of Louis Zan ...

with

Bradley Rubenstein Bradley Rubenstein (born 1963) is an American artist and writer who lives in Brooklyn, New York. His figurative paintings, prints, and drawings combine elements of biology, psychology, and art historical references. Early life and education Ru ...

(2014) *"Two Crowns of the Egg" with

Michael Somoroff Michael Somoroff is a conceptual artist, director, and photographer. Somoroff has directed and created work for advertising agencies, publications and cultural institutions. He is also a teacher and cultural commentator who has worked for Stony Br ...

and

Giannina Braschi Giannina Braschi (born February 5, 1953) is a Puerto Rican poet, novelist, dramatist, and scholar. Her notable works include ''Empire of Dreams'' (1988), ''Yo-Yo Boing!'' (1998) ''and United States of Banana'' (2011). Braschi writes cross-genr ...

(2014) *

Marcus Reichert Marcus Reichert (19 June 1948 - 19 January 2022) was an American painter, poet, author, photographer, and film writer/director. He was given his first exhibition of paintings at the age of twenty-one at the Gotham Book Mart, Gotham Book Mart and ...

(2015) Donald Kuspit, "Mirages, Transformations, Miracles: Marcus Reichert's Paintings," ''Marcus Reichert, Tableaux: Paintings 2002-2012, Ziggurat Books International, London, 2015, p.xvii-xx.''

Poetry

* Self-Refraction (1983) * Apocalypse with Jewels in the Distance (2000) * On the Gathering Emptiness (2004) * Disillusion (2018)

Film appearance

* Ciria, (Pronounced Thiria) (2013), directed by Artur Balder

References

External links

* Donald Kuspi
''The Matrix of Sensations''A short biography of Kuspit at ''Blackbird''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuspit, Donald 1935 births Kuspit Living people Frank Jewett Mather Award winners University of Michigan alumni Cornell University people 20th-century American Jews Columbia College (New York) alumni Yale University alumni Pennsylvania State University alumni Pennsylvania State University faculty 21st-century American Jews