more on this theme     |     more from this thinker

Single Idea 20347

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

Full Idea

It is said that beauty cannot consist in organisation because, if it did, we would not be able to predicate beauty of totally simple objects.

Gist of Idea

If beauty needs organisation, then totally simple things can't be beautiful

Source

Richard Wollheim (Art and Its Objects [1968], 59)

Book Ref

Wollheim,Richard: 'Art and Its Objects' [Penguin 1975], p.158

A Reaction

[He says this idea originates in Plotinus] I'm struggling to think of an example of something which is 'totally' simple and beautiful. Maybe a patch of colour like the breast of a bullfinch?

The 16 ideas from 'Art and Its Objects'

20331 It is claimed that the expressive properties of artworks are non-physical [Wollheim]
20332 A drawing only represents Napoleon if the artist intended it to [Wollheim]
20333 If artworks are not physical objects, they are either ideal entities, or collections of phenomena [Wollheim]
20334 The ideal theory says art is an intuition, shaped by a particular process, and presented in public [Wollheim]
20335 The ideal theory of art neglects both the audience and the medium employed [Wollheim]
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]
20338 We often treat a type as if it were a sort of token [Wollheim]
20341 An interpretation adds further properties to the generic piece of music [Wollheim]
20340 A musical performance has virtually the same features as the piece of music [Wollheim]
20342 Interpretation is performance for some arts, and critical for all arts [Wollheim]
20343 A love of nature must precede a love of art [Wollheim]
20345 Some say art must have verbalisable expression, and others say the opposite! [Wollheim]
20347 If beauty needs organisation, then totally simple things can't be beautiful [Wollheim]
20348 A criterion of identity for works of art would be easier than a definition [Wollheim]
20339 Classes rarely share properties with their members - unlike universals and types [Wollheim]