Originally delivered as the prestigious Mellon Lectures on the Fine Arts in 1995, After the End of Art remains a classic of art criticism and philosophy, and continues to generate heated debate for contending that art ended in the 1960s. Arthur Danto, one of the best-known art critics of his time, presents radical insights into art's irrevocable deviation from its previous course and the decline of traditional aesthetics. He demonstrates the necessity for a new type of criticism in the face of contemporary art's wide-open possibilities. This Princeton Classics edition includes a new foreword by philosopher Lydia Goehr.

Winner of the 1998 Eugene M. Kayden National University Press Book Prize, University of Colorado at Boulder "If you are seriously attentive to contemporary art, you are already aware of Danto and his general positions, and owe it to yourself to read this book. If you are not, but are genuinely curious, you would do well to follow him... Throughout it is clear and direct; at best, it is brilliantly crystalline... I know of no more useful single book on art today."--Michael Pakenham, Baltimore Sun "Is Danto gloomy about the end of art? Not in the slightest... Danto is nothing if not cheered by the prospect of an art world in which everything is permitted."--Roger Copeland, Wilson Quarterly "... the need for critical works such as this one--learned, discerning and refreshingly open-minded--is perhaps greater than ever."--Publishers Weekly "In this, Dr. Danto's best book yet, he helps us make sense of the times we are living in."--Richard Dorment, The Art Newspaper "Required reading for anyone seriously interested in late-modern and contemporary art."--Library Journal "Danto was and remains the high priest of pluralism, and arch-critic of the view that art has a distinctive essence... The chapters in this book are a challenging read, but a good one, because they take us to the heart of a living and profoundly interesting contemporary debate."--A.C. Grayling, Financial Times "Danto makes a lively and stimulating case [about the end of art]... The source ... of all ths mental labor is Andy Warhol, or more precisely his Brillo box sculpture... The utter banality of the piece sent 600 years of art history crashing to the ground in ruins."--Boston Book Review

Arthur C. Danto (1924-2013) was the Johnsonian Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Columbia University and art critic for the Nation from 1984 to 2009. His books include What Art Is and Encounters and Reflections, winner of the 1990 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Lydia Goehr is professor of philosophy at Columbia University. Her books include The Imaginary Museum of Musical Works and Elective Affinities.