Critical theory of art history

"Deconstruction, semiotics, feminism, Marxism, the Other. Whatever happened to the pure pleasure of looking at a painting or sculpture? To connoisseurship? To reverence for artistic genius?" "The New Art History, as it is called, is questioning most of the assumptions that art lovers have cherished for a long time. Formal analysis of pictorial and spatial elements, the study of iconography, and a belief that the artist and the work of art are of primary importance are all, suddenly, out of fashion. At least for now, they seem pushed to the sidelines by a bewildering array of theoretical app...