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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Simply Superb Book on Art and AestheticsBy Glenn RussellMy first contact with Matthew Kieran was listening to a podcast interview on the subject of Art; Censorship; Morality. Kieran was asked if a work can be both pornographic and art. Kierans answer was `yes and he elaborated on how the same artwork can have multiple purposes. For example; he continued; religious icons can be used both for prayer and for art. And the same can be true for some works of pornography; since artistic intention is tied up with the presentation of a work as pornography - the art cant be separated from the explicit erotic; sexual content. This same line of thinking holds true for the case of propaganda; since propaganda can have artistic merits. One could almost hear the interviewer gasp. Kieran went on to explain how the morally problematic can be precisely why art has such power and is provocative. The interviewer countered with several objections on moral grounds but Kieran would have none of it. Art; he explained; should be taken seriously since we expand our vision via our exposure to problematic areas of life. Good and great art forces us to engage with the world and find out about ourselves. If we removed all the art in the Tate that was morally objectionable; we would be left with 75% bare walls.---- My reaction was: now here is a philosopher and art expert worth exploring! I purchased a copy of his book; Revealing Art; and started underlining like crazy.This book ranges from covering subjects like originality; beauty and artistic insight to morality and modern humanism. To do these topics justice; a review would have to be many paragraphs long. So; in the interest of space and to provide a brief sampling; I will cite several quotes from the first chapter; `Originality and Artistic Expression and offer a brief commentary:--"If an artist creates a work which consists in the development of a unique style or which manifests individual artistic vision; then it constitutes an artistic achievement; and the work is of value; irrespective of whether anyone gets to see it or not." With this statement Kieran puts forward the dignity of the creative process and artistic creation - artistic achievement needs no viewer to have value. Let me give a personal example: Last summer I created a piece of conceptual art that occupies the midpoint between a Zen garden and an abstract painting of Mondrian. Applying the idea contained in this quote; if my piece is exhibited in a world-class museum or I simply share it with friends alters not the originality of my vision nor degree of my artistic achievement.--"Any view which reduces the value of all art to the disposition to afford us rewarding experiences still cant capture how and why we value certain kinds of works." Kieran eschews any aesthetic theory or view of art restricting the full range of what art is and can be. This quote is a case in point: the value of an artwork cannot be reduced to providing an occasion for rewarding experiences. Can you imagine someone thinking they have exhausted the artistic dimensions of the Parthenon by the various rewarding experiences the building gave during a trip to Athens? Or; even if one thinks the sum of all human rewarding experiences throughout history will exhaust the artistic dimensions?-- Reflecting on the early cubist works of Picasso and Braque; Kiernan writes: "Yet though the visual experience of some such works may be relatively anemic; these works are to be highly valued; for their interest lies more in the intellectual; artistic feat achieved." With this statement the author keenly understands the work is much more than what is contained on the canvas (or other medium); rather; we have to appreciate the entire intellectual; cultural; historical; social context in which the art is created.--"The critical point here is that; unless one is concerned with what Mondrian was striving to capture and express in his artistic development; one will fail to understand and properly appreciate his art. A mere concern just with the experiences Mondrians work may happen to give rise to would occlude the very nature of his abstract work." Likewise; the author knows the artists development and life and vision must be incorporated into our viewing a great work of art lest our viewing be incomplete.--The greatness of Michelangelos Pieta also lies in its expression of a particularly profound understanding of Marys own sacrifice; which naturally gives rise to similar sentiments in us toward her. Thus it cannot just be the value of the experience afforded that we value; it must also be the understanding Michelangelo distinctively expresses through the work." And yet again; the author wants us to consider how the artwork can very well be a representation of something greater than the work itself; and how the work can also express a power that is both emotional and even spiritual.Kierans Revealing Art is most impressive. With great facility the author presents the philosophies of art from; for example; Plato; Hume and Kant as well as articulating the thinking of modern aestheticians Arthur Danto; George Dickie; Monroe Beardsley; Roger Scruton and others. Even art critics such as Robert Hughes are included. Of course there are specific references to dozens of artists as well as comments on full-color plates of works by Poussin; Michelangelo; Munch; Klimt; Bacon; Matisse; to name six.For the life of me I cant understand why I am the first to review this outstanding book published in 2005. I can assure you it is that good. But dont take my word for it. If you are interested in the world of art and aesthetics and how our lives are enriched by contact with things artistic; please order this book and put it on the top of your list as a must read.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Rambling; Vague; CursoryBy Reader and WriterI wanted to really enjoy this book but instead found it nearly useless. I wish the arguments were tight but they are not; they jump hither and thither. For example to prove that art communicates; Kieran provides an analogy of sports in which viewers communicate some meaningful things and some grunts; (already switching from the object to the subject) and then he says only some art communicates in a meaningful way. The author does not seem to hold that all works of art are real works of art; and here he muddles up expression; perceived expression; and intention. One can create art without intending it to be art; but like most of his arguments he just keeps jumping around. After working to apply Kant to artists like Rothko and Van Gogh; he suggests that art is not propositional; which seems to be his way of going after expression and tacit knowledge that is embedded in art; and that we somehow find or get. Then in his cursory overview of conceptual art he sort of changes his view and says the work is good because it stretches our visual and conceptual schemas. By the end of the book we are to strive for a delicacy of taste; to understand there is always more to be appreciated; to travel through the imaginative landscapes of art and thus to cultivate our inner lives. I found the book to be very cursory rehashes of arguments done much better by many others. No argument was sustained and so much was assumed in this continual hopping left and right on issues that the experience was less than revealing. It seems hes adhering to some idea of quality and expression; of humanitarian values seeping through works of art and it would have been better just to admit his biases. Instead this reads like an intent of an argument derailed by the sort of rambling one might find in a nursing home; combined with some art history 101 lecture telling us why we should appreciate certain works that we may not have realized we should appreciate.