During late modernism, Cork opposed the practice of intellectual elitism derived from formalist abstraction. (Gablik 12) The late critic Peter Fuller (editor of Modern Painters) invented the term 'Corkballs' to describe his form of art criticism. Louisa Buck said Cork was among the "rare species" who search out the latest developments in contemporary art, in contrast to the conventional outlook of many of his colleagues, who "still feel that art should know its place, which is firmly on a plinth or in a frame." She described his dismissal from the "Evening Standard" (where he was art critic 1969–84): "on a black day for contemporary art, he was succeeded by the fulminating Brian Sewell."