"from the very beginning of this book, my aim has been to
elucidate general
principles of the arts in terms of evolved adaptations"
"i want to sketch the general characteristics that inhere in the very
greatest
works of art, the masterpieces that have withstood Hume's test of
time"
1. Complexity: "presenting audiences with the highest degree of
meaning-complexity that the mind can grasp"
"complexity does not mean complicatedness but rather the densely
significant
interrelations of, say, poetry, plotting, and dramatic rhythm in
a play
like
"King Lear"
"artistic masterpieces fuse layer upon layer of meaning into a
single,
unified, self-enhancing whole"
"the greatest works of art unite every aspect of human experience:
intellect
and the will, but also emotions and human values of every kind
(including
ugliness and evil)
"the finest works of art draw us into them in order to yield up
the deep,
intricate imaginative experiences. They are marked by the utmost
lucidity
and
coherence"
So Dutton's notion of "great art" is Romantic, and is best
exemplified by
the
long, dramatic works that were popular in that era. It's hard to
see how a
piano sonata, lyric poem, Chardin still-life, or an abstract
painting
could
ever qualify.
Which doesn't mean that such lesser things cannot be valuable and
important
-
but only that they offer less.
And I would tend to agree.
More is more.
A full meal can be more satisfying than any snack. (even if you love
snacks)
2.Serious Content: "The themes of great works are love, death,
and human
fate."
"Artistic masterpieces need not be solemn and can end
joyfully ...but even
when they do, they are not merely jolly and amusing, and offer an
implicit
nod, if not to a darker side of human existence, then at least to
what
might
be termed a realistic view of the finitude of life and aspiration"
"the arts that do not attain greatness through prettiness or
attractiveness
can be illustrated by considering the ambiguous place of sexual
acts in
art"
Which, again, would locate all purely instrumental music and
abstract
painting somewhere lower than "the high white peaks of art"
That sounds a bit severe - but after all -- nobody, except
Buddhist monks,
can live on mountaintops forever.
I do question his exclusion of eroticism, however - and Dutton
goes on to
explicate this further:
"Sex itself is just too simple...pure eroticism by itself is no
more likely
as
a theme for great art than purely green and pleasant Pleistocene
calendar
landscapes are a likely theme for the greatest paintings. An
enduring
masterpiece that presented a perfect, pretty landscape would
probably use
it
as, say, a background for the Expulsion from Eden
than as a central subject in its own right"
Interesting comment, don't you think?
Dutton's notion of great painting coincides with that of the French
Academy,
c. 1880. He'd let Manet;s bargirl in, but keep Monet's
landscapes out.
"The evolutionary implications of waist-to-hip ratios for art
history are
not
unlike the evolutionary implications for the presence of sweetness
in food.
That sugars are in all cuisines -- does not mean that a bowl of
corn syrup
will ever be dinner"
But while sugar may taste sweet to every human tongue -- the
sexual act is
not necessarily "simple", and is not portrayed that way in the
sculptural
programs of certain medieval Hindu temples, or in the pornographic
themes
of
Ukyo-e.
But overall, I still agree with Dutton's elevation of serious
content
(even
if plenty of non-serious stuff has passed Hume's test of time -
especially
Chinese ceramcis, which I don't think have any theme at all)
3.Purpose: "authenticity of artistic purpose -- a sense that THE
ARTIST
MEANS
IT" -- and Dutton goes to Libertarian and conservative columnist,
Charles
Murray for further explanations. (taken from his book "Human
Accomplishment")
"the greatest art tends to be created against a cultural backdrop of
"transcendental goods" - a belief that real beauty exists, there is
objective
truth, and the good is a genuine value independent of human
cultures and
choices --
which enables the "moral vision" that is characteristic of the most
enduring
art" (Dutton)
To quote Murray: "extract its moral vision, and Goya's "The Third
of May,
1808" becomes a violent cartoon. Extract its moral vision and
"Huckleberry
Finn" becomes "Tom Sawyer"..... Art created in the absence of a well
articulated conception of the good is likely to be arid and
ephemeral"
"Murray's conclusion that artistic masterpieces will be more
likely found
in
cultures and times committed to transcendental goods that are
justified by
religious faith is backed up by the phenomenal strength of the
arts in the
