Download or read book Laocoon written by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing and published by . This book was released on 1984-02 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Originally published in 1766, the "Laocoon" has been called the first modern attempt to define the distinctive spheres of art and poetry, and its author, Lessing, the first modern esthetician. Lessing invented the modern concept of the artistic medium and modernist assumptions of the uniqueness of the individual arts. A new Foreword by Michael Fried emphasizes Lessing's current importance regarding trends in art history and literary theory. (Philosophy)