The bourgeoisie begin to struggle with a definition of Art that might best suit their purposes. Parallel to this circumstance comes the rise of the mass media commercial press, providing numerous periodicals aimed at the cultured, intelligent and affluent. From this forum of upscale magazines and newspapers emerges the Art critic as a powerful determiner of artistic merit. Armed with a strong intellect, some literary skill, and a certain level of hubris, these self-styled arbiters of cultural taste assume command over what will and won't be deemed as Art. This phenomenon has been with us through most of the Modern Era, and is lampooned quite adequately in Thomas Wolfe's book , The Painted Word.
Appropriation is no longer an issue.
It's a point of departure, not a point of contention. Deconstruction no longer needs explanation. Showing the skeleton with the skin is what we expect in a full visual explanation. By the end of the twentieth century, the power of art critics seems to subside. Through a significant portion of the twentieth century, critical opinion marked the pivotal point of approval for the validity of any artistic effort.