Chapters 3, 4 and 5: Art, the Artist & Society

Art Theory: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Cynthia Freeland

Freeland examines the relationship between art and culture. Philosopher John Dewey declared that "art is a universal language" and that only by immersing ourselves in it, devoid of "external facts," could we genuinely appreciate it. Rather than limiting art to Beauty, Dewey saw it as "the expression of the life of the community." Freeland argues, and I agree that one can not truly understand art without context or "external facts." We can't appreciate the work of an artist in our own culture without some knowledge of the artist, his time and world much less grasp the meaning of art produced by another society. More recently, the ethno-aesthetician Richard Anderson suggested that art has "culturally significant meaning, skillfully encoded in an affecting, sensuous medium."  

The book delves into how through museums, we have separated art from the masses. In Europe and North America, no more than 22 percent of the population visits an art museum, and those consist primarily of the highly educated and well off. Many of the great museums of Europe display artifacts stolen from other peoples. Many of these museums and other collections are supported by the uber-wealthy. Dewey stated that "Generally speaking, the typical collector is the typical capitalist." Where art was once an everyday life thing, now it is put upon a pedestal.

Danish painter, sculptor, 

ceramicist, and author Asger Jorn 

was a founding member of 

the Situationist International.

The Nature of Gothic by John Ruskin, 

a manifesto for the Arts and Crafts movement.

Recently, efforts have been made to bring art back into the average person's life. The National Endowment for the Arts has funded projects that display artwork in public spaces and city streets. In the 1950s and 60s, street theatre and spectacles by the Marxist-influenced Situationism Internationalists hoped to plant the seeds which would overthrow cultural elites and intellectuals. The Arts and Crafts Movement of the mid-nineteenth century sought to inject beauty back into people's common existence through architecture, furniture, and product design.

Outsider Art: T. Rex by Howard Finster

Protests against the art establishment and cultural biases also manifested themselves in the Outsider Art Movement where primitive, almost child-like work was celebrated and the Guerrilla Girls who highlighted gender inequality in the art world. What is the importance of the role of gender and sexual orientation in art? If context is key to understanding, it would seem to be a consideration in understanding.

Billboard by the Guerrilla Girls Movement

What is valued and why is a question that we continue to face. Initially, artists were seen merely as skilled craftspeople. Artists were trained through a system of apprenticeships. The concept of an artistic genius is a relatively modern idea that has set the stage for further creative exploration.