DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.69711#0083
IV
WHAT NEXT?
IT is too soon to state as to who will be chosen to fol-
low Cezanne in the chain of art. This, however, does
not mean that the chain of art came to an end with
Cezanne, as many a person in the late nineties believed
and taught that art had come to an end with the Renaissance.
Art, as we see, can never come to an end while man exists,
for art is inherent in man and belongs to the spiritual
forces which make for his development. It is true, never-
theless, that at the present time we are facing what many
term a revolution in art.
What is this revolution and is it more of a revolution
or a greater break with the past, than was faced by the
people of the 5th and 13th Centuries, when the Byzantine
Art came into existence to give expression to the Christian
doctrine, or when the early Italian Primitives sought to
give expression to their love for humanity? To understand
the aims which the leaders of the revolution of today are
trying to reach, one must have an understanding of the
conditions which preceded this so-called revolution.
It is therefore necessary for us to go back to the end
of the last century, to have a clearer comprehension of the
conditions under which art existed, and from which the
present group rebelled. An era was coming to an end, and
the popular artists or the artists of fashion of the last half
of the last century were devoting almost their entire energy
to the technical side of art, rather than to that inherent
message which art must bring. The technique of paint-
ing would never have been called into existence, if it had
not been to express some emotion or feeling, which as yet
65
WHAT NEXT?
IT is too soon to state as to who will be chosen to fol-
low Cezanne in the chain of art. This, however, does
not mean that the chain of art came to an end with
Cezanne, as many a person in the late nineties believed
and taught that art had come to an end with the Renaissance.
Art, as we see, can never come to an end while man exists,
for art is inherent in man and belongs to the spiritual
forces which make for his development. It is true, never-
theless, that at the present time we are facing what many
term a revolution in art.
What is this revolution and is it more of a revolution
or a greater break with the past, than was faced by the
people of the 5th and 13th Centuries, when the Byzantine
Art came into existence to give expression to the Christian
doctrine, or when the early Italian Primitives sought to
give expression to their love for humanity? To understand
the aims which the leaders of the revolution of today are
trying to reach, one must have an understanding of the
conditions which preceded this so-called revolution.
It is therefore necessary for us to go back to the end
of the last century, to have a clearer comprehension of the
conditions under which art existed, and from which the
present group rebelled. An era was coming to an end, and
the popular artists or the artists of fashion of the last half
of the last century were devoting almost their entire energy
to the technical side of art, rather than to that inherent
message which art must bring. The technique of paint-
ing would never have been called into existence, if it had
not been to express some emotion or feeling, which as yet
65