Full Idea
My hypothesis is that art is the expression of an emotion for ultimate reality.
Gist of Idea
Art is the expression of an emotion for ultimate reality
Source
Clive Bell (Art [1913], II.II)
Book Reference
Bell,Clive: 'Art' [nk 2010], p.37
A Reaction
So later in his discussion the word 'ultimate' has crept in, after a chapter about the close relation between religious and artistic attitudes. He also sees good art as deeply 'spiritual'. It seems that religious belief is essential to his theory of art.