Thomas McEvilley (; July 13, 1939 – March 2, 2013) was an American
art critic
An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...
, poet, novelist, and scholar. He was a Distinguished Lecturer in
Art History
Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history.
Tradit ...
at
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres.
Rice University comp ...
[Thomas McEvilley, G. Roger Denson (1996), ''Capacity: : History, the World, and the Self in Contemporary Art and Criticism''. Routledge. : This information is given on the backpage of this book.] and founder and former chair of the Department of Art Criticism and Writing at the
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 ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
.
Biography
McEvilley was born in
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
. He studied
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
,
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
,
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, and
classical philosophy
Classical may refer to:
European antiquity
*Classical antiquity, a period of history from roughly the 7th or 8th century B.C.E. to the 5th century C.E. centered on the Mediterranean Sea
* Classical architecture, architecture derived from Greek an ...
in the
classics
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
programs of the
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...
where he received a
B.A., and the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, where he received an
M.A. He then returned to Cincinnati, where he received a
Ph.D. in
classical philology. He also retained a strong interest in
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 ...
, reinforced by the artists of his acquaintance.
In 1969, McEvilley joined the faculty of
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University, is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. Established in 1912, the university spans 300 acres.
Rice University comp ...
, where he spent the better part of his teaching career.
[Thomas McEvilley (2004)]
"Art and Cognition."
Slought Foundation Online Content. 11 December 2004, retrieved 4 April 2008 He was a visiting professor at
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 ...
and the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
, among others. He taught numerous courses in
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
Indian culture,
history of religion
The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The Prehistoric religion, prehistory of reli ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
. In 2008 he retired from teaching after 41 years, residing in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and in
upstate New York
Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...
in the
Catskills.
He received numerous awards, including the Semple Prize at the University of Cincinnati, a
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 ...
Critics grant, a
Fulbright fellowship in 1993, an NEA critic’s grant, and the
Frank Jewett Mather Award (1993) for Distinction in Art Criticism from the
College Art Association.
McEvilley was a contributing editor of ''
Artforum'' and editor in chief of ''Contemporanea''.
[School of VISUAL ARTS, graduate programs 2007-2008](_blank)
, Retrieved 4 April 2008.
McEvilley died on March 2, 2013, of complications from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...
. He was 73. He is survived by his wife, the artist Joyce Burstein; two sons from a former marriage, Thomas and Monte; a sister, Ellen M. Griffin; and two grandchildren. His son Alexander predeceased him. He was married twice earlier; both marriages ended in divorce.
Work
McEvilley was an expert in the fields of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
n culture, history of religion and philosophy, and art. He published several books and hundreds of scholarly monographs, articles, catalog essays, and reviews on early Greek and Indian poetry, philosophy, and religion as well as on contemporary art and culture.
[McPherson & Company Publishers](_blank)
''Art and Otherness''
In his 1992 book ''Art and Otherness: Crisis in Cultural Identity'', McEvilley collected and revised twelve essays from the 1980s in the midst of the
culture wars, the roiling debate regarding the predominance of white, male, Western culture in academia and visual art, and the need for that supremacy to be challenged and opened up to other points of view. McEvilley did this in pointed fashion in "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief," his influential jeremiad against the underlying assumptions that framed the
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...
's 1984 exhibition ''Primitivism and Twentieth Century Art''.
''Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era''
In his 1993 book ''The Exile’s Return: Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era'', McEvilley made an important contribution to the late twentieth century "death of painting" debate. He noted that after two decades of decline in importance as a medium, painting revived around 1980. In its return from exile, painting assumed a new theoretical basis in
postmodern
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, 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 the wo ...
cultural theory, together with a new kind of self-awareness and interest in its own limitations.
''Heads It's Form, Tails It's Not Content''
In the article "Heads it's Form, Tails it's not Content" McEvilley describes a theoretical framework for the formalist project presented by postwar critics such as
Clement Greenberg,
Michael Fried. He argued that formalist ideas are rooted in
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
and as such deal with the problem of content by claiming that content is embedded within form.
Formalism is based on a
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
model that
Claude Lévi-Strauss
Claude Lévi-Strauss ( ; ; 28 November 1908 – 30 October 2009) was a Belgian-born French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theories of structuralism and structural anthropology. He held the chair o ...
argued is given content through the unconscious. In adopting a formalist approach, a critic cannot ignore the content that accompanies every deployment of form.
''Sculpture in the Age of Doubt''
In the book ''Sculpture in the Age of Doubt'' (1999), McEvilley analyzes the intellectual issues surrounding the
postmodern movement in the course of 20th-century sculpture.
''The Shape of Ancient Thought''
In ''
The Shape of Ancient Thought'', McEvilley explores the foundations of
Western civilization. He argues that today's
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
must be considered the product of both Greek and Indian thought, both
Western philosophy
Western philosophy refers to the Philosophy, philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre ...
and
Eastern philosophies. He shows how
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
,
imperialism
Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...
and currents of
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
allowed cultural philosophies to intermingle freely throughout
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
and the ancient
Near East
The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...
. This book spans thirty years of McEvilley's research, from 1970 to 2000.
See also
This section gives an overview of topics on which McEvilley has written.
; Art:
*
Art of the Indo-Greeks
*
François Morellet
*
Jean Pigozzi
*
Marina Abramović
Marina Abramović ( sr-Cyrl, Марина Абрамовић, ; born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limit ...
*
Late Modernism
*
Postmodern art
*
Yves Klein
* ''
Title This''
;Greek history and philosophy:
*
Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era Ancient Greece, Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India.
The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" ...
*
Legacy of the Indo-Greeks
*
Plato of Bactria
*
Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism is an Ancient Greek school of philosophical skepticism which rejects dogma and advocates the suspension of judgement over the truth of all beliefs. It was founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BCE, and said to have been inspired ...
*
Similarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism
;Indian philosophy:
*
Anekantavada
*
Azilises
*
Greco-Buddhism
Greco-Buddhism or Graeco-Buddhism was a cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism developed between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD in Gandhara, which was in present-day Pakistan and parts of north-east Afghanis ...
*
Paulisa Siddhanta
*
Pranayama
Pranayama (Sanskrit: प्राणायाम, "Prāṇāyāma") is the yogic practice of focusing on breath. In classical yoga, the breath is associated with '' prana'', thus, pranayama is a means to elevate the ''prana-shakti'', or life en ...
*
Rishabha (Jain tirthankar)
*
Romaka Siddhanta
*
Spalahores
*
Spalirises
*
Theodorus (meridarch)
*
Zeionises
Selected publications
;Books
* 1964, ''Party Going'' (First Novel)
* 1987, ''North of Yesterday (a Menippean Satire)''
* 1991, ''Art and Discontent''
* 1992, ''Art and Otherness''
* 1993, ''Fusion: West African Artists at the Venice Biennale''
* 1993, ''The Exile’s Return: Toward a Redefinition of Painting for the Post-Modern Era''
* 1994, ''Der Erste Akt''
* 1996, Capacity: History, the World, and the Self in Contemporary Art and Criticism (with G. Roger Denson)
* 1999, ''Sculpture in the Age of Doubt''
* 2002, ''
The Shape of Ancient Thought: Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies''
* 2007, ''The Triumph of Anti-Art''
* 2008, ''Sappho''
* 2010, ''Art, Love, Friendship: Marina Abramović and Ulay, Together & Apart''
* 2010, ''Yves the Provocateur: Yves Klein and Twentieth-Century Art''
* 2013, ''Charles Dellschau's Aporetic Archive''
* 2014, The Arimaspia (Novel, a Menippean Satire)
;Essays
* Heads It’s Form, Tails It’s Not Content; Artforum November 1982
* On the Manner of Addressing Clouds; Artforum Summer 1984
* The Monochrome Icon
* I Am” Is a Vain Thought
* Art History or Sacred History?
* Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief:‘Primitivism In Twentieth-Century Art at the Museum of Modern Art; Artforum November 1984.
* The Selfhood of the Other
* Another Alphabet: The Work of Marcel Broodthaers
* History, Quality, Globalism
* Penelope’s Night Work: Negative Thinking in Greek Philosophy
* Arrivederci, Venice: The Third World Biennials; Artforum November 1993
* The Tomb of the Zombie
* Paul McCarthy: Performance and Video Works: the Layering (2008)
* Here Comes Everybody
Beyond the Pale, Art and Artists at the Edge of Consensus, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, 1994
Africus: Johannesburg Biennale, exhib. cat., Transnational Metropolitan Council, 1995
issue 4/5, 1995, of the magazine neue bildende kunst
Ekbatana exhib. cat., Images of the World, Nikolaj Exhibition Space. Copenhagen, 2000
* James Lee Byars and the Atmosphere of Question; Artforum Summer 1981
* Charles Dellschau: A Higher Vision Is A Basic Demand Of Poetry.
;Monographs
Thomas McEvilley wrote monographs on
Yves Klein (1982),
Pat Steir,
Leon Golub (1993),
Jannis Kounellis (1986),
James Croak (1999),
Dennis Oppenheim
Dennis Oppenheim (September 6, 1938 – January 21, 2011) was an American conceptual artist, performance artist, earth artist, sculptor and photographer. Dennis Oppenheim's early artistic practice is an epistemological questioning about the na ...
,
Anselm Kiefer
Anselm Kiefer (born 8 March 1945) is a German painter and sculptor. He studied with Peter Dreher and Horst Antes at the end of the 1960s. His works incorporate materials such as straw, ash, clay, lead, and shellac. The poems of Paul Celan h ...
,
Dove Bradshaw (2004), Bert Long (2016).
;Poetry
* 44 Four Line Poems (1982)
* 17 Ancient Poems (2013)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McEvilley, Thomas
1939 births
American male poets
American art critics
2013 deaths
Rice University faculty
Frank Jewett Mather Award winners
University of Cincinnati alumni
University of Washington alumni
Writers from Cincinnati
Journalists from Cincinnati
20th-century American poets
Journalists from New York City
20th-century American male writers
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists