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In the 1960s conceptual art emerged as a tendency loosely defined by a focus on ideas and the process of production. For many conceptual artists, Marcel Duchamp’s readymades — everyday objects he designated as works of art — served as a point of departure. Taking up Duchamp’s denouncements of “retinal art” — art that appealed mainly to the eye — Kosuth employed language as his primary medium. The Art as Idea as Idea series embodies his proposition that after the readymade, the only task left to artists was to analyze the nature of art rather than create objects. Kosuth made these works by enlarging the definitions of words he clipped from a dictionary and reproducing them using Photostat, an early form of photocopying. Each piece includes a certificate of ownership, which verifies the holder’s right to reproduce the work according to Kosuth’s specifications. The project proposes that artistic skill lies not in manual dexterity, but in concept.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1979.433
People
Joseph Kosuth, American (Toledo, OH born 1945)
Title
Titled (Art as Idea as Idea), [Society]
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1968
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/351898

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1100, Modern and Contemporary Art, The Sixties Experiment/Multiple Strategies
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Photostat mounted on board
Dimensions
original Photostat: 121.9 x 121.9 cm (48 x 48 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Beldock Levine & Hoffman, New York, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1979.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Beldock Levine & Hoffman through the generosity of Elliot L. Hoffman
Copyright
© Joseph Kosuth/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
1979
Object Number
1979.433
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Related Works

Verification Level

This record was created from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator; it may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu