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

psychoanalytic PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious processes and their influence on conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on dream interpretation, psychoanalysis is also a talk the ...

art criticism. He has published on the subjects of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

aesthetics,

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

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 tradit ...

, and conceptual art.

Education

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

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1958. He received his PhD in philosophy from the

Goethe University Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt () is a public research 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 wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt ...

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 Pennsyl ...

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 ...

Scholar and has taught philosophy and American studies at Saarland University and

University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...

. He earned a PhD in art history from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

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 university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

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 Silas ...

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

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

(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.

Awards and grants

He received the Frank Jewett Mather 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 $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

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 ...

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 feder ...

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, and Asian Cultural Council.

Art criticism

* Noah Becker's Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, (2024 to present) https://whitehotmagazine.com/contributors/donald-kuspit/947 * 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 (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) (1997) * Joseph Raffael (1998) * Daniel Brush (1998) * Hans Hartung (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 has ...

(2002) * Hans Breder (2002) * Steven Tobin (2003) *

April Gornik : April Gornik (born 1953, Cleveland, Ohio) is an American artist who paints American landscapes. Her realist yet dreamlike paintings and drawings embody oppositions and speak to America's historically conflicted relationship with nature. While ...

(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 with Bradley Rubenstein (2014) *"Two Crowns of the Egg" with Michael Somoroff 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), '' United States of Banana'' (2011), and '' Putinoika'' (2024). ...

(2014) * Marcus Reichert (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