November 29, 2002

The Early History of Abstract Art

To the Editor:

Lynn Gamwell's thesis is based on the unsupportable premise that abstract painting -- the complete absence of representational imagery -- is art. The argument on that matter (which Michelle Kamhi and I offer in What Art Is: The Aesthetic Theory of Ayn Rand) is best left for another time, however. I write now to set the art-historical record straight on two points ("The Scientific Origins of Abstract Art," End Paper, The Review, October 25).

Abstract