Harmon Siegel Revisits Artforum's 'Problems of Criticism' Series
In the May 2026 issue of Artforum, Harmon Siegel examines the magazine's ten-part 'Problems of Criticism' series (1967–1971), in which critics like Barbara Rose, Max Kozloff, and Rosalind Krauss debated the moral and political role of art criticism amid social upheaval. Siegel traces Rose's three essays: she initially accused formalist critics of triviality, then argued that Minimalism (e.g., Donald Judd) offered democratic models, and finally conceded criticism had become elite. Kozloff countered that describing color's affect was a nonauthoritarian political act, while Krauss used Wittgenstein and Robert Morris's mirrored cubes to argue criticism must self-reflexively account for its conditions. Siegel concludes that the series' core insight—that criticism is never value-free—remains urgent today.
Key facts
- The 'Problems of Criticism' series ran in Artforum from 1967 to 1971.
- Barbara Rose published three essays in the series: February 1968, January 1969, and May 1969.
- Rose criticized Artforum colleagues for debating sculpture's relation to the floor while the country faced assassinations, riots, and war.
- Rose argued that Clement Greenberg and Harold Rosenberg had depoliticized criticism.
- Max Kozloff's 1967 essay argued that describing color's affect was a nonauthoritarian political act.
- Rosalind Krauss's 1971 essay used Wittgenstein and Robert Morris's mirrored cubes to argue criticism must self-reflexively account for its conditions.
- Leon Golub responded to Rose, arguing that art needing criticism was too recalcitrant to inspire action.
- Harmon Siegel is an affiliate scholar at the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute.
- The article appears under the title 'Problems of Criticism XI'.
- Siegel notes that critics today take for granted the possibility of forming a community of experience.
Entities
Artists
- Barbara Rose
- Rosalind Krauss
- Michael Fried
- Clement Greenberg
- Robert Goldwater
- Franz Kline
- Gabriel Laderman
- Jack Burnham
- Dan Flavin
- Harold Rosenberg
- Pablo Picasso
- Donald Judd
- David Smith
- Leon Golub
- Max Kozloff
- Robert Morris
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Harmon Siegel
Institutions
- Artforum
- The Nation
- Princeton University Press
- Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Locations
- United States
- Florence
- Venice