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How did Rosalind Krauss move from formalist criticism toward psychoanalytic and linguistic theories?

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Painting by Gustave Courbet showing the artist at his easel in a crowded studio, surrounded by figures including a nude model, onlookers, and a child with a white dog. — Art criticism *The Painter's Studio*, oil on canvas by Gustave Courbet, 1854–55, in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.

Rosalind Krauss began her career deeply influenced by the formalist approach of Clement Greenberg, which emphasized pure aesthetic perception and the material qualities of the art object. However, her transition away from strict formalism was catalyzed in 1974 by a public dispute with Greenberg regarding his mismanagement of David Smith’s estate, which she viewed as a failure to respect the artist's intentions.12

Following this, Krauss sought to move beyond the limitations of formalist analysis by adopting rigorous theoretical models. While her early work, such as Terminal Iron Works (1971), utilized an immanent analysis focused on structure, she increasingly integrated psychoanalytic and linguistic theories to challenge the "Modernist myths" of her predecessors.21

Notably, she employed Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic framework to explore what she termed the "optical unconscious," a counter-history to the self-conscious "opticality" celebrated by Greenberg and Michael Fried. By cofounding the journal October, she further facilitated the adoption of French theoretical innovations, ultimately replacing Greenberg’s intuitive formalism with a structured, method-driven approach to art criticism.21