Shades—Of Painting at the Limit

Book excerpt: "[Sallis's] ideas are presented in a singular, scholarly, remarkable, captivating, conceptually rigorous, dense, and deep manner. . . . Highly recommended." —Choice "This fascinating book by one of the more original voices writing philosophy in English poses questions about the nature of the visible and invisible, sensible and intelligible." —Dennis Schmidt What is it that an artist paints in a painting? Working from paintings themselves rather than from philosophical theories, John Sallis shows how, through shades and limits, the painter renders visible the light that confers visibility on things. In his extended examination of three phases in the development of modern painting, Sallis focuses on the work of Claude Monet, Wassily Kandinsky, and Mimmo Paladino—three painters who, each in his own way, carry painting to the limit.