"There are books aplenty on painting and art, but this is the first to explain seriously what makes painting an art, and it is our good luck to have it from a notable philosopher who is also on an intimate footing with the tradition of Western painting and who knows how to stand in front of a painting and spin tales that sparkle with truth. . . . Wollheim's interpretations are bold, revisionary and cogent. Only a philosopher of his rare gifts, and a connoisseur with his command of the art-historical tradition, could possibly have the confidence to bring off his feat of virtuoso interpretation."---Flint Schier, New York Times Book Review "It is one of the achievements of Richard Wollheim's superb book that it offers an extremely subtle sense of the mind's functioning, while providing a theory of critical relevance: it shows how psychological and cultural factors enter a painting's content, and how arguments on relevance can be conducted in difficult cases."---Michael Podro, Times Literary Supplement
