Beauty, it must be understood, does not wholly revolve around aesthetics. Just as a Guido may look good on a wall, so might a well placed blue canvas. Alas, I think only one sparks true beauty in man the other seems void of that connection with the viewer; the blue canvas although it may represent something of beauty, it itself does not reflect this strive for beauty, it simple informs us that there is beauty out there. Whereas, the other, educes an “emotional shock, that makes man leave his shell and sparks this enthusiasm by attracting him to something that is other than himself”. I believe this is because they seek to capture beauty not to merely represent it.
“Nostalgia and longing impel him to pursue the quest; beauty prevents him from being content with just daily life. It causes him to suffer.” If only art could live up to such a standard, a ‘Beauty which causes man to suffer’. In my experience, nothing has caused me more grief, than spending a few hours in a small gallery in New Norcia (It being filled with beautiful sacred art), and then having to leave it. For two hours I was in a world not of my own, I had “left my shell” so to speak, and the shock of coming back after leaving was enough to cause this discontent with daily life. It hurt me to know that such beauty had been forgotten in daily life. Art galleries these days tend to focus more on modern art, art which is the product of such a society that has left beauty for dead. Personally I have never experience such shock from a piece of modern art. In fact the last time I experienced something similar was when I viewed a painting of “the high alter of Seville”(done in a classical style), which was placed in some forgotten corner of the gallery.
The main difference I think is that, classical art seems the capture the moment as well as capturing the romanticism in it, in such a way to tell a story through the painting. It is not merely a representation of beauty; it is in itself a thing of beauty. Here I shall leave you with a quote, which sums up my view of beauty quite nicely:
“Beauty should bring consolation in sorrow and affirmation in joy”
(Reni, Guido: Atalanta and Hippomenes (c.1612)
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