CONTENTS

      Acknowledgments

       Introduction: Art and Aesthetics

       1Myth and Parable

       2Realism and Abstraction

       3Classicism and Romanticism

       4Escapism and Formalism

       Conclusion

       Bibliography

       Index

       ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      The main ideas presented in this book were cultivated over many years in a wide variety of courses and seminars in which I participated, both as a student and a teacher.

      I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my professors, namely, Marvin Carlson, Daniel Gerould, Jane Bowers, Jonathan Kalb, James Saslow, Rosanna Warren, Robert Phillip Kolker, William Flesch, Sarolta Takacs, and Derek Walcott, as well as a diverse array of critics, educators, and artists whom I was fortunate enough to encounter—central among them Christopher Ricks, Roger Shattuck, and Robert Pinsky.

      There are, of course, the innumerable scholars and thinkers whose varied insights I’ve digested and assimilated indirectly over the years, which, sadly, prevents me from citing by name.

      I must also acknowledge the acuity and passion of my many students at New York University, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Santa Monica College, and The Los Angeles Film School, whose probing curiosity helped sharpen my own ideas.

      I would like to thank Tej Sood, Abi Pandey, Kanimozhi Ramamurthy, and Megan Greiving of Anthem Press, who were invariably kind, patient, and supportive.

      My parents, John and Catherine Bolus, without whose support and never-ending love and devotion I might not have trusted myself to pursue my passions.

      John Gutierrez, my administrative assistant, exhibited an amazing amount of industry, resourcefulness, and loyalty throughout what was often an obstacle-laden process.

      My amazing young sons, Andre and Jean-Paul, who never made me feel guilty for disappearing into my office for hours on end.

      Finally, my primary thanks are reserved for my wife, Kristin, to whom this book is dedicated. Her infinite love and support, keen intellect, critical prowess, and unbounded encouragement made this book possible.

       INTRODUCTION

       ART AND AESTHETICS

      WHAT IS ART?

      In his 1890 poem, Conundrum of the Workshops, Rudyard Kipling writes,

      When the flush of a new-born sun fell first on Eden’s green and gold,

      Our father Adam sat under the Tree and scratched with a stick in the mould;

      And the first rude sketch that the world had seen was joy to his mighty heart,

      Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, “It’s pretty, but is it Art?”

      As Kipling duly suggests, the questions surrounding our definition and understanding of the nature and purpose of “Art” are ancient ones:

      1.What is it about certain man-made objects that make them beautiful, arresting, soothing, provocative, or enlightening?

      2.Why are some objects worthy of the label “Art,” while others are somehow disqualified from that categorization?

      3.How do objects created for specifically utilitarian purposes (e.g., a bridge, an office tower, a clay pitcher, etc.) transcend their practical functions and enter the realm of Art? What inherent properties or qualities must be present in a man-made object to justify that classification?

      4.What is the criteria that we employ when making these types of determinations? And who defines and applies that criteria?

      5.What is Art’s purpose? To simply beautify our surroundings? To elicit an emotional response? To provoke thought or cerebral reactions? To make a rhetorical point or pose a rhetorical question? To compel some sort of social, political, and/or spiritual change? To allow for certain types of communication between human beings that cannot be achieved otherwise? Or to merely provide a welcome and relaxing diversion?

In attempts to answer these and related questions, we in the modern era are often ruled by Romantic¹ notions of individual subjectivity, which insists that absolute criteria be displaced by a fluid relativism, leading to the slippery notion that “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.”

      But if beauty lies merely in the eye of the beholder, does it then follow that there are no native qualities or innate characteristics in the object itself that render it beautiful, regardless of our own individual gazes? Is there no such thing as a fixed