Single Idea 20431

[catalogued under 21. Aesthetics / B. Nature of Art / 2. Art as Form]

Full Idea

The first quality that we demand in our [artistic] sensations will be order, without which our sensations will be troubled and perplexed, and the other will be variety, without which they will not be fully stimulated.

Gist of Idea

Art needs a mixture of order and variety in its sensations

Source

Roger Fry (An Essay in Aesthetics [1909], p.32)

Book Reference

Fry,Roger: 'Vision and Design' [Penguin 1937], p.32


A Reaction

He makes good claims, but gives unconvincing reasons for them. Some of us rather like 'troubled and perplexed' sensations. And a very narrow range of sensations could still be highly stimulated. Is Fry a good aesthetician but a modest philosopher?