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Theme fatigue is assailing the art world like a virus. After all the structuralist analyses that the last decade has brought to art theory, it seems that part of the art world is turning back to what had once been the most important orientation of art: the individual. The rediscovery of the creative subject is a neo-Romantic trend that puts the person of the artist at the forefront in assessing art. He or she is the cornerstone – to recall the recent lecture series at Witte de With – on which the foundations of art rely. All other indicators quickly run into generalizations and common denominators. A truly profound appreciation of art, which sees art as something singular and exceptional, is about the uniqueness of an experience. How could this be better recognized than by putting the accent on the individuality of the production of art, its personal colour and particular interpretation?The only greater structure in which individual art production can to some degree still feel at home is that of the oeuvre. Interrelationships between works by one person form the most natural environment for a more penetrating insight into that person’s art. Nonetheless, the ‘oeuvre’ was for a long time an idea that seemed to be dying out. It was preferable to approach art through a political, economic or social context. But with the return of the celebrated individual, the oeuvre is back in the debate. Note, for example, how the exhibition programme at De Appel is regularly offering broad overviews of the work of individual artists. This RESEARCH takes a deeper look into the background of the individual perspective in art and how art criticism is currently influencing that perspective. Curator Alexis Vaillant pauses to examine the changes in retrospective exhibitions, the ultimate form of exhibition focused on the individual. With his exhibition at De Appel on Marc Camille Chaimovicz, he is himself helping to affect these changes. In addition, Dieter Roelstraete looks at the philosophical fundamentals of the rediscovery of the author in the visual arts.