What is the intentional fallacy in art criticism?

The intentional fallacy is a term used in 20th-century literary criticism and aesthetics to describe the error of judging a work of art based on the assumed intent or purpose of its creator.1

Introduced by W.K. Wimsatt, Jr. and Monroe C. Beardsley, the concept challenges the belief that an artist's intended meaning serves as the definitive interpretation of their work. Proponents of this view argue that a work of art should stand on its own; if a creator's intentions are not sufficiently realized within the piece itself, forcing the audience to seek external clues is considered an artistic defect.12

Furthermore, once a work is presented to the public, it is viewed as belonging to the world rather than the artist. In this context, the artist becomes one critic among many, and their stated intentions are not necessarily the final authority on the work's meaning or value. Anti-intentionalists maintain that only the final product matters, as the aesthetic quality of a work remains unchanged regardless of whether a specific outcome was intended or accidental.2