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Full Idea
To see something as art requires something the eye cannot descry - an atmosphere of artistic theory, a knowledge of the history of art: an artworld.
Gist of Idea
A thing is only seen as art in an 'artworld', which has a theory and a history
Source
Arthur C. Danto (The Artworld [1964], II)
Book Ref
'Aesthetics and the Phil of Art (Analytic trad)', ed/tr. Lamarque,P/Olsen,SH [Blackwell 2004], p.32
A Reaction
The editors of the volume call this a revolutionary remark, followed up by Danto and George Dickie with a social and institutional account of art. Danto's key example is Warhol's Brillo pads - art in a gallery, cleaning material in a shop.
| 20413 | For Hegel the importance of art concerns the culture, not the individual [Hegel, by Eldridge] |
| 20328 | A thing is only seen as art in an 'artworld', which has a theory and a history [Danto] |
| 20441 | An ordinary object can be a work of art, but only if some theory of art supports it [Danto] |
| 20336 | Style can't be seen directly within a work, but appreciation needs a grasp of style [Wollheim] |
| 20337 | The traditional view is that knowledge of its genre to essential to appreciating literature [Wollheim] |
| 8114 | The institutional theory says only a competent expert can decree something to be an art work [Dickie, by Gardner] |
| 20329 | A work of art is an artifact created for the artworld [Dickie] |
| 20393 | The 'institutional' theory says art is just something appropriately placed in the 'artworld' [Davies,S] |