“Private Cases” is a collection of essays about significant works of art created over the last century, and about their authors—who pushed Boris Groys toward new discoveries and interpretations. The book is inspired by art as a practice that changes how we see and think. It is an investigation of key questions related to the development of contemporary art: originality, derivativeness, the value of works of art, the language of power contained within them, and more. They don’t “explain” art theory; rather, they follow the impulses that the works themselves provide.