The Easel

A Critic’s Job of Work

Why do we need art critics? In today’s hot art market “[t]he critic no longer has the power to participate in forming a consensus of value”. The argument here is that the critic’s real role lies elsewhere. “[T]he creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world. [Hence] the work can never be completed because … others will always be making their own contribution”.