These essays on abstract painting by eleven of its most incisive critics
trace the development of such critical issues as hard-edge painting,
deductive and serial structure, monochrome abstraction, the
psychological analogy, regionalism, and the "death of painting" in
Postmodernism. The introduction and commentary by Frances Colpitt
situates the essays historically and examines their philosophical
sources and influences, from formalism and phenomenology to
structuralism and poststructuralism. What emerges is a coherent and
optimistic picture of abstract painting--the definitive contribution of
modern art.