This book examines the nature and character of critical writing about modern art in Europe and the United States during the 20th century, and its relationship both to art practice and to art history. It analyzes a wide range of material from a number of different viewpoints making a contribution to knowledge and understanding of an aspect of the history of art which is of growing interest among art historians. Following a general introduction to the field of art criticism, 12 specialists deal with a variety of issues and debates. These include discussion of: Walter Benjamin; art publishers; the emergence of the language of modernism in the United States; Herbert Read and psychoanalysis; "Englishness" and art criticism; and French theory and criticism.