The Fake: Forgery and its Place in Art - Softcover

The Fake blends history, ethical concerns, and artistic examination in a delicate weave of unique insights. * The Bookwatch * Contemporary aesthetics has transformed the fake from a problem in connoisseurship to a problem in the philosophy of art. Contemporary art has transformed the replication of a given work from the status of the fake to that of an appropriation. These shifts affect virtually every component in the concept of art, and it is greatly to Sandor Radnoti's credit that he has addressed these revolutionary changes in a systematic way, and written a sweeping, insightful book, which pivots in the concept of the fake, but carries the reader through current philosophical reflection and contemporary artistic practice. -- Arthur C. Danto, art critic; Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Columbia University What is wrong with a fake? Is it wrong at all? The discussion of these questions leads Radnoti to the re-examination of the main aesthetic and conceptual implications of the autonomous art of modernity (originality, novelty, tradition, cannon), to their crisis and transformations in the practice of contemporary art. This is one of the most original and interesting books in art theory published in the last decade. -- Gyorgy Markus, Department of Philosophy, University of Sydney The Fake is a splendid book: it combines great scholarship, entertaining story-telling and an innovative theoretical approach. Radnoti's book is a jewel in contemporary art history as it is also an original statement about the vicissitudes of our postmodern condition. -- Agnes Heller, Professor Emeritus, New School for Social Research, New York A fascinating study. * Art Times * A pioneering work in the field of aesthetics . . . its scholarship is impeccable. -- Laurent Stern, Rutgers University Radnoti is...a rigorous, common-sense thinker of daunting erudition. His interest is art forgery goes way beyond the Hitchcockian detective stories that pop up regularly in newspapers to the philosophical structure of the enterprise itself. Get your hands on a copy of The Fake and westle with it. You'll find that Radnoti has done us all a favor. -- Peter Plagens * Bookforum * In this fine work, Sandor Radnoti uses the concept of forgery to explore important issues in art theory. It is an insightful strategy. . . . and this overview can't do justice to the subtle, dialectical quality of the argument in The Fake. -- Robert Cavalier, Carnegie Mellon University * College Art Association * Will the reader be able to identify a "fake" after reading this work? Probably not, but in these post-Duchamp, post-Warhol times, Radnoti's discussion will help the reader to articulate the issues. An excellent bibliography will allow the student of the subject to explore further. Recommended. * Library Journal * The Fake provides an exhaustive and informative overview. * New Art Examiner * The most rewarding elements of Radnoti's sustained meditation on the status and function of forgery arise from his ability to combine detailed knowledge of cultural history with a philosopher's concern for the thorny theoretical and conceptual problems that this history continually thows up. Indeed, what distinguishes Radnoti's account from the already sizeable literature on the subject in analytic aesthetics is his insistence on the historical character of the concept and practice of forgery. * British Journal of Aesthetics * Radnoti's book is all the more exciting because he discloses territories for questioning rather than narrowing them down. * Graduate Faculty Philosophy Journal * This book is subtle, detailed and exceedingly well-researched. * Philosophy in Review *

In this fascinating look at the creators of artistic fakes and copies, Sandor Radnoti explores the role of the faker in the art world, and tackles the question of whether fakes can be considered to be art in their own right. The Fake provides a thorough examination of the "parasites" of the art world, as Radnoti investigates the faker's motives and aesthetic sense, as well as the way in which the faker's own story acts as a critical appraisal of the center of the art world. If art is seen from both the center and the periphery of the art world, suggests the author, the viewer's questions about the art may be answered more accurately and appropriately. The Fake is essential reading for all philosophers interested in aesthetics.