Degrees: MLITT, 2001, Univ Dublin Trinity Coll Dubli; PHD, 1973, Columbia Univ; MA, 1965, Columbia Univ; AB, 1963, Columbia Univ

Bio:

Modern art history should mean a modern view of all art, not just a wayward last episode in some cultural serial (and likewise, "postmodernism" should mean more than ignorance of modernism). Modernity opened up artists' shop-talk about how works of art are put together, which had been downplayed in favor of literacy or representational significance. For paintings are more than "pictures," sculptures not just puppet-like "statues," and buildings are useful yet also abstract constructions. Historical context ought to appear in sharper focus than ever once the artwork is seen as something from a specific past but still "alive."