DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68796#0177
chap, ii Beauty in Art not purely formal 157
There is a certain physiological pleasure to be derived from
its contemplation that is quite direct and independent of
subsidiary ideas, but already when the eye, after tracing
with satisfaction the bounding line, has conveyed to the
mind what becomes the impression of a rounded body,
there have been called up associations connected with other
rounded forms, such as those of the human frame, of which
we have had past experience, and these modify the general
impression. We may say, indeed, adopting the words of
Shelley, that
‘ Nothing in the world is single ;
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle.’
The latent affinities and associations which bind things
together are to the poet the chief source of his thoughts,
and verse never more perfectly fulfils its function than when
it is making them understood with clearness and force. A
function of the same kind belongs to the arts of form, as
well as to music, and it is a paltry cynicism that would
seek to eliminate from the sources of artistic expression all
appeal to this natural symbolism, through which we are
bound by innumerable links of interest and affection to the
world around.
§ 99. Discussion of the Counter-Theory that Formal
Beauty is the only true artistic quality.
The discussions in this chapter will, it is believed, justify
the statement made at the outset, that works of art delight
us for two reasons., partly because they are beautiful, and
partly because they are significant. It is not denied here
for a moment that there may be formal aesthetic pleasure
without dependence on any intellectual or moral element.
There is a certain physiological pleasure to be derived from
its contemplation that is quite direct and independent of
subsidiary ideas, but already when the eye, after tracing
with satisfaction the bounding line, has conveyed to the
mind what becomes the impression of a rounded body,
there have been called up associations connected with other
rounded forms, such as those of the human frame, of which
we have had past experience, and these modify the general
impression. We may say, indeed, adopting the words of
Shelley, that
‘ Nothing in the world is single ;
All things by a law divine
In one another’s being mingle.’
The latent affinities and associations which bind things
together are to the poet the chief source of his thoughts,
and verse never more perfectly fulfils its function than when
it is making them understood with clearness and force. A
function of the same kind belongs to the arts of form, as
well as to music, and it is a paltry cynicism that would
seek to eliminate from the sources of artistic expression all
appeal to this natural symbolism, through which we are
bound by innumerable links of interest and affection to the
world around.
§ 99. Discussion of the Counter-Theory that Formal
Beauty is the only true artistic quality.
The discussions in this chapter will, it is believed, justify
the statement made at the outset, that works of art delight
us for two reasons., partly because they are beautiful, and
partly because they are significant. It is not denied here
for a moment that there may be formal aesthetic pleasure
without dependence on any intellectual or moral element.