Abstract
In this paper, certain consequences arising from the acceptance of a post-formalist approach to reconstructing the impact of a visual work of art are presented. The paper specifically focuses on challenging the notion that significance, or the communication of sense, is a necessary function of visual art.
Therefore, interpretation of the manner of expressing sense need not always be a reliable instrument for reconstructing the impact of art. The paper shows the advantages of the pragmatic, use-oriented approach of post-formalism by comparing it to the semantic oriented approach of Anthony Forge's anthropology of art.