Aristos (publication)

Founded as a modest 6-page print journal by Louis Torres in 1982, it was recommended by the authoritative reference work Magazines for Libraries as a “scholarly but gutsy little periodical," whose feature articles carried "more weight than those found in more substantial periodicals."[2][3]

Publication was temporarily suspended in 1997 so that the editors could complete the writing of What Art Is: The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand[4]—based on a series of articles they had written for Aristos.[5] In January 2002, they suspended publication indefinitely, to devote full time to book-related projects.[6] They continued to publish material comparable to that formerly offered in Aristos on the aristos.org website—much of it under What Art Is Online.[7] In January 2003, they launched the online version of Aristos.[2]

Aristos advocates objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism.[8] Rejecting the inventions of both modernism and postmodernism, it champions contemporary work "that, like the great art of past centuries, is concerned with fundamental human values, and is both intelligible and well crafted."[9] Its editorial viewpoint is broadly informed by the theory of art philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand outlined in the first four essays of The Romantic Manifesto.