The Mystery of Art is the title of the 1982 Reith lectures given by Irish literary critic Denis Donoghue. The current Henry James Professor of English and American Letters at New York University explores how societies understand art in his first lecture entitled 'The Zealots of Explanation'.

In this lecture entitled 'The Zealots of Explanation', Denis Donoghue investigates the arts in relation to the mystery that surrounds them. He claims that the mystery is to be acknowledged but not resolved or else the value of its anonymity will be destroyed. He dismisses the zealots of explanation as destroyers of art.