Roger Kimball: The End of Art (Profound Essay)

First Things ^ | July 2008 | Roger Kimball

[mojito]

Nearly everyone cares—or says he cares—about art. After all, art ennobles the spirit, ­elevates the mind, and educates the emotions. Or does it? In fact, tremendous irony attends our culture’s continuing investment—emotional, financial, and social—in art. We behave as if art were something special, something important, something spiritually refreshing; but, when we canvas the roster of distinguished artists today, what we generally find is far from spiritual, and certainly far from refreshing.

It is a curious situation. Traditionally, the goal of fine art was to make beautiful objects. The idea of beauty came with a lot of Platonic and Christian metaphysical baggage, some of it indifferent or even hostile to art. But art without beauty was, if not exactly a contradiction in terms, at least a description of failed art.

Nevertheless, if large precincts of the art world have jettisoned the traditional link between art and beauty, they have done nothing to disown the social prerogatives of art. Indeed, we suffer today from a peculiar form of moral anesthesia—as if being art automatically rendered all moral considerations ­gratuitous. The list of atrocities is long, familiar, and laughable. In the end, though, the effect has been ­anything but amusing; it has been a cultural disaster.

[woofie]

If I remember correctly the word kicked around by Albert Bierstadt was “sublime”

[MHGinTN]

Breathtaking!

[Buckhead]

I looked him up on Wikipedia, and just finished downloading that one to iPhoto. Spectacular.

[Buckhead]

I did the Mt. Whitney day hike from Whitney Portal this past summer, and saw the Sierras in person. It’s beautiful beyond belief.

Bierstadt traveled to Yosemite with the writer Fitz Hugh Ludlow. Ludlow described his feelings upon seeing Yosemite, fitting to the original topic of this thread:

“We did not so much seem to be seeing from that crag of vision a new scene on the old familiar globe as a new heaven and a new earth into which the creative spirit had just been breathed. I hesitate now, as I did then, at the attempt to give my vision utterance. Never were words so beggared for an abridged translation of any Scripture of Nature.”

[ETL]

Among the Bernese Alps by Albert Bierstadt

http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/Albert-Bierstadt/Among-The-Bernese-Alps.html

[ETL]

Frederic Edwin Church, Landscape in the Adirondacks

http://www.paintinghere.com/painting/Landscape_in_the_Adirondacks_723.html

[cornelis]

Thanks for posting.

[ETL]

Another great Hudson River School artist, Asher B. Durand...

In the Woods, 1855
Asher B. Durand (American, 1796–1886)
Oil on canvas; 60 3/4 x 48 in. (154.3 x 121.9 cm)
Gift in memory of Jonathan Sturges by his children, 1895 (95.13.1)
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/hurs/ho_95.13.1.htm

[cornelis]

You're the first person that I've seen mention Tarkovsky on FR. His "Sacrifice" is a masterpiece. Tarkovsky was born with eyes. (nostalghia.com) Art, as I just happened to read from Mark Helprin (Ellis Island), is there "for want of connection." And art, says Richard Weaver, keeps us from being assimilated with matter. Whenever the ghost of alienation is particularly sharp and pungent, the artist always helps to lift the fog.

[cornelis]

It’s there, but there’s more. It’s ugly and what is ugly is politically useful.

[ETL]

Frederic Edwin Church, Twilight in the Wilderness

Frederic Edwin Church Paintings (9 shown):
http://www.paintinghere.com/artist/Frederic_Edwin_Church-1.html

[ETL]

There’s actually about 27 paintings viewable on the page I last linked to (not 9 as I wrote). I didn’t notice at first that there were 3 separate pages of his works.

[ml/nj]

I've been lucky enough to have seen many of the paintings depicted on this thread. And since I've already recommended one book here, I recommend another. It is:

I've not see the paperback, but the quality of the pictures in the hardcover I have is quite good. Several years ago I wanted to purchase a copy as a gift for someone whom I had observed had a nice little art library in her home but nothing Hudson River related, and I had to settle for a used copy.

ML/NJ

[ETL]

Looks like a great book! Thanks. This stuff is so incredibly inspirational. Yet some people aren’t moved in the least by such things. Having very nearly completed a BS in geology years ago, I’m also deeply into the natural processes which created these amazing landscapes.

[ml/nj]

BS in geology

That's funny!

ML/NJ

[ETL]

If you have such a feature available to you on your system, I suggest ‘zooming’ or enlarging these paintings to the max. It’s the next best thing to seeing the real deal at the Museum! Both Windows IE and Firefox have zoom features. For IE-7 (and perhaps the other versions?), it should be at the lower right-hand corner of the screen (see the percentage sign: % at lower right). For Firefox, hold down Ctrl, Delete and + all at the same time.

[ETL]

I know, I thought of that too. It’s almost like saying one knows about astronomy because they ‘took up space’ in college. But seriously, I did very nearly complete a ‘4-year degree’ in geology. I often kick myself for not going back to finish. Personal problems got in the way making it very difficult.

[ETL]

Ping.

[ml/nj]

‘4-year degree’ in geology

I guess you didn't understand my comment. I believe the conventional wisdom about geology to be almost entirely BS.

ML/NJ

[onedoug]

Like tectonics, right?