The Gate of Appreciation: Studies in the Relation of Art to LifeNoyes, Carleton Eldredge
Philosophy
The Gate of Appreciation: Studies in the Relation of Art to Life
Noyes, Carleton Eldredge
Aesthetics; Art appreciation; Art criticism
The second of the three men is attracted by the qualities of execution
which the work displays, and he is delighted by what he calls the
"actual beauty" of the painting. With eyes close to the canvas he
notes the way Millet has handled his materials, his drawing, his
color, his surfaces and edges, all the knack of the brush-work,
recognizing in his examination of the workmanship of the picture
that though Millet was a very great artist, he was not a great painter,
that the reach of his ideas was not equaled by his technical skill.
Then as the beholder stands back from the canvas to take in the
ensemble, his eye is pleased by the color-harmony, it rests lovingly
upon the balance of the composition, and follows with satisfaction
the rhythmic flow of line. His enjoyment is both intellectual and
sensuous. And that too has its place.
The third spectator, with no thought of the facts around which the
picture is built, not observing the technical execution as such,
unconscious at the moment also of its merely sensuous charm, feels
within himself, "_I_ am that peasant!" In his own spirit is enacted
the agelong world-drama of toil. He sees beyond the bare subject of
the picture; the medium with all its power of sensuous appeal and
satisfaction becomes transparent. The beholder enters into the very
being of the laborer; and as he identifies himself with this other life
outside of him, becoming one with it in spirit and feeling, he adds
just so much to his own experience. In his reception of the meaning
of Millet's painting of the "Sower" he lives more deeply and
abundantly.
It is the last of these three men who stands in the attitude of full and
true appreciation. The first of the three uses the picture simply as a
point of departure; his thought travels away from the canvas, and he
builds up the entire experience out of his own knowledge and store
of associations. The second man comes a little nearer to appreciation,
but even he falls short of full realization, for he stops at the actual
material work itself. His interest in the technical execution and his
pleasure in the sensuous qualities of the medium do not carry him
through the canvas and into the emotion which it was the artist's
purpose to convey. Only he truly appreciates the painting of the
"Sower" who feels something of what Millet felt, partaking of the
artist's experience as expressed by means of the picture, and making
it vitally his own.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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