Posthumous tribute to Rainer Rochlitz re-evaluates modern art and avant-gardes

The book 'Réévaluer l'art moderne et les avant-gardes', subtitled 'Hommage à Rainer Rochlitz', collects contributions from a seminar initiated by the philosopher shortly before his death in 2002. Rochlitz's project was to reconsider modernity and avant-gardes independently of partisan discourses, while still allowing aesthetic appreciation of those discourses. The volume includes a text based on his last lecture. Philippe Roussin comments on Rem Koolhaas looking at New York through the divergent views of Dalí and Le Corbusier. Georges Roque analyzes canonical texts by Greenberg, challenging simplifications. Jean-Pierre Cometti examines how postmodern discourses remain trapped in modernist historical schemas. Denys Riout uses artists' own re-evaluations (e.g., Kaprow in relation to Dada and Pollock) to deconstruct the letter, suggesting that happenings and performances transformed the artistic field into a 'scene of art'. The book aims to move beyond purely ideological attacks like those of Jean Clair.