An Ode On An Ode On A Grecian Urn

Beauty is Truth, Truth Breauty.

Quite. The Classical/Romantic conception of art's purpose! To embody truth, art must embody beauty. There's also a snarky implication here, that we consider to be true only that which find appealing - but leave that aside. In every age prior to the modern, the purpose of art was to embody beauty. To plumb its depths and articulate its forms, to investigate and to create and to embody Beauty. Not merely the pretty, but also truths terrible and beautiful to behold. To capture in paint or wood or stone, forms capable of reaching the beholder in a visceral way, awaken stirrings of admiration and longing and awe.

With the advent of Modernism, one might well say instead "Novelty is truth - and truth, novelty." Beauty is no longer a concern worthy of serious art. Any art which is to be considered serious (or even "good") must exhibit some novel advancement of art theory.

It's not enough to be good, or to produce beauty. In fact, it may count as a strike against you! At best, beauty is utterly beside the point. "Was it done well?" and "Is it worth doing?" are questions now utterly subsumed into the answer to the question: "Has it been done before?" To be well-regarded as an artist, the single most important thing is that your art must be peculiar.

Comments

dogimo said…
The way I'm always bemoaning the theoreticals, you'd never know I actually love Modernist art!

I mean, it produced some real slammers before it burnt itself out on the course it had plotted.
Sean Scully said…
What's a Grecian Urn?

Oh, about $6 an hour, just like everyone else.
dogimo said…
RIM-SHOT!!!

That was classic, dude! Don't tell me it's the first I heard of an ol' chestnutt that's been kicking around for years, because I'm prepared to vouch it all the way to the wall that you just now came up with that yourself.
Sean Scully said…
It's older than God. At least almost. I think I first heard it from Groucho, but I can't prove that.

But remember, if you haven't heard it before, it's new to you.
dogimo said…
OK. I guess I just have odd gaps in my joke stack.