The Search for Beauty in an Ugly World II
05-17-2008 01:42 Thoughts and Reflections
Permalink
What must be done to bring joy and beauty into this
ugly world?
That is a question I have been pondering for several years as I am dissatisfied with artistic offerings of this current culture. If we are to be a society of achievers that are ambitious, passionate, rational, and (most importantly) happy then we must do all that we can to foster those values that make such men possible. For the artist, this means portraying the ideal through one's given medium. For the novelist, this means portraying heroic men and women choosing to act with courage and conviction. For the visual artist, this means portraying the body and posture of heroic men and women and/or portraying a setting appropriate to such men and women. For the architect, this means building not for the way that men normally live, but the way that an ideal man should live. For the musician, this means writing not for the emotions that people feel, but the emotions people should feel.
Looking back to the 19th century, it is clear that a different culture existed (although unknowingly in peril philosophically) that celebrated man as a heroic being and was concerned with achieving beauty. Men from a century and a half ago would not have been able to conceive of the absurdities that plague the arts, humanities, and even ordinary entertainment. Paintings were not globs, shapes, or random splatters (or even worse). They portrayed heroic men and women fighting epic battles against evil as well as portraying happy, successful people enjoying life. Literature was not unfocused obtuse verbiage. Poetry consisted of using evocative language employing the use of rhyme and meter to create an integrated and intelligible style. Prose saw the creation of the fictional novel in which writers, such as Victor Hugo, portrayed men and women whose lives were controlled not by fate or god, but by acting on their own free will. Music consisted of emotion freed from the arbitrary non-rational dogma of classicism. Composers were free for the first time to experiment and implement their own ideas creating music of passion and intelligence at a caliber not seen before or since.
Consider that previous to the 19th century was the Enlightenment which emphasized reason and laid the foundations for benevolent, free, and prosperous nations to develop. Consider that the amount of wealth being created by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution was making it possible for artists to free themselves from the shackles of the patronage system and set the terms on which they would work for the first time in history. It was from this climate of prosperity and freedom that the birth of Romanticism in the arts was possible. Since artists no longer had to conform their works into the arbitrary wishes or conventional ideas of a nobleman or a clergyman, a new wave of individuality was infused into the arts. Thus beginning what is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Romantic movement, the emphasis of the importance of the individual and his ability to choose his own destiny. You can witness this in the characters of Dostoyevsky and Hugo. You can see this idea play out in the story of Beethoven and many other artists.
Why did this wonderful and life-affirming movement die? This is the question I will examine in the next installment of this series. Stay tuned.
That is a question I have been pondering for several years as I am dissatisfied with artistic offerings of this current culture. If we are to be a society of achievers that are ambitious, passionate, rational, and (most importantly) happy then we must do all that we can to foster those values that make such men possible. For the artist, this means portraying the ideal through one's given medium. For the novelist, this means portraying heroic men and women choosing to act with courage and conviction. For the visual artist, this means portraying the body and posture of heroic men and women and/or portraying a setting appropriate to such men and women. For the architect, this means building not for the way that men normally live, but the way that an ideal man should live. For the musician, this means writing not for the emotions that people feel, but the emotions people should feel.
Looking back to the 19th century, it is clear that a different culture existed (although unknowingly in peril philosophically) that celebrated man as a heroic being and was concerned with achieving beauty. Men from a century and a half ago would not have been able to conceive of the absurdities that plague the arts, humanities, and even ordinary entertainment. Paintings were not globs, shapes, or random splatters (or even worse). They portrayed heroic men and women fighting epic battles against evil as well as portraying happy, successful people enjoying life. Literature was not unfocused obtuse verbiage. Poetry consisted of using evocative language employing the use of rhyme and meter to create an integrated and intelligible style. Prose saw the creation of the fictional novel in which writers, such as Victor Hugo, portrayed men and women whose lives were controlled not by fate or god, but by acting on their own free will. Music consisted of emotion freed from the arbitrary non-rational dogma of classicism. Composers were free for the first time to experiment and implement their own ideas creating music of passion and intelligence at a caliber not seen before or since.
Consider that previous to the 19th century was the Enlightenment which emphasized reason and laid the foundations for benevolent, free, and prosperous nations to develop. Consider that the amount of wealth being created by the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution was making it possible for artists to free themselves from the shackles of the patronage system and set the terms on which they would work for the first time in history. It was from this climate of prosperity and freedom that the birth of Romanticism in the arts was possible. Since artists no longer had to conform their works into the arbitrary wishes or conventional ideas of a nobleman or a clergyman, a new wave of individuality was infused into the arts. Thus beginning what is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Romantic movement, the emphasis of the importance of the individual and his ability to choose his own destiny. You can witness this in the characters of Dostoyevsky and Hugo. You can see this idea play out in the story of Beethoven and many other artists.
Why did this wonderful and life-affirming movement die? This is the question I will examine in the next installment of this series. Stay tuned.