The Three Letter Word

This autumn Thames & Hudson publish a freshly re-written edition of What is Painting?, a book written by Julian Bell first released in 1999. In the interval Bell has often heard his title quoted back to him as ‘What is Art?’. His talk will explore the relation between the two questions. How did we become fixated on the notion of ‘Art’, with a capital A? What happened to the argument, often heard in the late 20th century, that ‘art’ has somehow moved beyond painting? How have contemporary painters met this challenge? The talk will open up one of the themes of the new What is Painting?, which has been hailed by Jonathan Jones of The Guardian as ‘a modern intellectual classic’. 

Julian Bell is a painter and art writer who teaches at the Royal Drawing School. 

Image credit:
Un altro uomo che ha fatto sgocciolare il suo pennello
Katharine Grosse, 2008