This volume presents a sustained and original interpretation of painting and the question of the art object. Both topics raise questions central to the understanding of art in the 20th century and this book reviews: the relationship of painting to time; the continuing influence of Duchamp on the art-object; the increasing use of installation as an art form; and the instability of the categories of painting and sculpture that emerge from the project of mimimalism. The book discusses the work of artists from different generations including Anselm Kiefer, Jackson Pollock, Robert Ryman, Christian Boltanksi, Langlands and Bell.