Replies

Excuse me aesthetic judgments comes from within!

I am not talking about humanist art....

But there are things for whatever reason will touch one or bring a lovely memory alive into one life!

You wrote, "Excuse me aesthetic judgments comes from within! I am not talking about humanist art...."

Aesthetic judgment is an aspect of critical thinking. Critical thinking is taught--from without. One isn't born with the ability to evaluate artistic merit. Unlike artistic talent, another thing entirely, aesthetic judgment is a learned attribute.

I don't know exactly what you mean by 'humanist art'. If you're saying that religiously inspired, spiritually oriented art is somehow held to a different standard, you're mistaken. El Greco's work, for example, is deeply religious, largely intended to bring those viewing his pictures closer to God. Even so, El Greco adhered to the same classically inspired, 'humanist' standard of his more secular contemporaries.

Excuse me aesthetic judgments comes from within!

IMHO, aesthetic judgement is based on an amalgam of our philosophies, our ethics, our experiences, and those ineffable qualities given to us by God. By that I mean, our innate ability to judge is modulated by those things that we are taught, or that we experience as we grow.

So, to follow that line, we may not be able to teach pure aesthetics, but our experiences can certainly influence what we determine for ourselves to be "beautiful" or "moving".

Therefore, it is possible for a sense of aesthetics to be beaten out of us early on by those who seek to destroy art and replace it with grotesques, as many in the modern, humanist school would do.

Likewise, it is possible to teach an appreciation of what constitutes true style, versus the gimmickry that Kinkade foists upon people.

This is, of course, completely separate from his sleazy marketing and unethical practices WRT "editions".