Art criticism has been said to be in crisis for decades – and one of its mainstays, the review, would seem to be in no better shape. The number of exhibition reviews in the pages of national daily papers has been in continuous decline, and the material conditions that make the articulation of well-founded criticism possible are deteriorating. Moreover, at least in the domain of visual art, critics seem to be losing the taste for judgment: more and more often, solidly reasoned objections have ceded ground to affirmative description. This issue of TEXTE ZUR KUNST responds to the situation by making the case for the review and shedding light on its shifting circumstances.