ABSTRACT
by art criticism in the accepted sense, we mean the current criticism of painting, sculpture, architecture and other visual arts. But what is “criticism”? There is ambiguity in this very word, for it is obvious that the nature of criticism must be determined by the nature of the audience to which it is addressed. A teacher, moving from easel to easel in the life class, will be critical in one manner—pointing to faulty composition in one case, to an insensitive line in another, to inadequacies of all kinds; at the same time praising the successes where they exist, and always urging on his pupils by communicating to them his sympathy and enthusiasm. That I would call professional criticism, and with its technicalities and jargon it should be confined to its proper sphere, the studio or the school of art.
