The Invisible Masterpiece
Subtitle: The Modern Myth of Art
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: March 2002
Format: Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780226042664
Subjects: Criticism; Art & Art Instruction; Art appreciation; Art criticism; History; Art
First sentence: Our notion of the 'work of art' has its origin in the concept of the unique 'masterpiece', an idea that gained currency when the first museums were founded: revered icons or works of star quality were crucial to justify the existence of the temples of art that bourgeois culture demanded.