The Painting of Jack Levine and the Politics of Criticism

Abstract

Jack Levine's Feast of Pure Reason (Figure 1) established him at the forefront of the New York art world when he was just twenty-two years old. Levine's meteoric rise in the years before the Second World War is evidenced by his inclusion in key exhibitions during that time as well as by critical acclaim in both the art magazines and the popular press. Art News went so far as to dub him the “dazzling newcomer.” In the years following the war, however, the art establishment's consensus on Levine's work went through a dramatic reversal. Just how complete was this turnaround is plainly visible in a review, also in Art News from 1955, where Levine's painting was described as “unlikable … tired, thin and lacking in wit.”