Letters

Leonardo, zyxwvutsrqponm Vol. zyxwvutsrqp 5. pp. 91-96.zyxwvutsrqpo Pergamon Press 1972. Printed in Great Britain LETTERS zy Readers’ comments are welcomed on articles published in Leonardo. The Editors reserve the right to shorten lettersfor reasons zyx o f space. Letters should be written in English or i n French. AESTHETICS AND THE ARTIST TODAY (cont.) May I try to shed some light on the correspondence dealing with this subject [l-61 from the point of view of an artist who has taught and worked from life. I share Gibson’s optimism about our abilitytoseetruthfully. Gombrich’s non-perception or partial perception may become the preoccupation of a Cezanne but I would like to deal with the problem at a more everyday level: that of misrepresentation rather than misperception. It is quite usual, for instance, for a beginner when drawing a seated model from the front to represent a figure that is almost standing. When asked to look at the flat shape of the foreshortened thigh the student has no difficulty in seeing it. It is the knowledge of the true length of the thigh that is the barrier to representing the shape as seen. Teachers help the student to overcome these ‘preconceptions’ by the use of mechanical measuring techniques or by advising him to draw only the flat pattern of the objects before him or possibly only the space between the objects. These methods work but have two very unfortunate effects. Firstly, they concentrate the attention on the fortuitous rather than the characteristic elements in a given situation and, secondly, they foster a distrust of knowledge and attempt to force the student back to an unattainable innocence and reliance on intuition. I believe this is fundamentally wrong. It is the teacher’s task to supplement not to circumvent the inadequate conceptshis student may have inherited. In my article [4], I have briefly examined a series of conceptsand tried to showwhy some are dangerous and others useful. The former may be at the root of the decline in draughtsmanship and certainly contribute to the dislike artists have of aesthetics, noted by Munro [5], since aestheticscan add only to the fund of knowledge that experiencehas shown to be dangerous. I shall now put forward two more powerful reasons why aesthetics play so little part in artistic practice. Souriau states in his letter [6] that the creation of a masterpiece transforms the artist. I believethat it also transforms the aesthetic. Indeed, I think that even moderately good works demand their own special quality of response. If an artist has any serious creative ambition, this must surely be to play an active part in the evolution of our own culture. In this context, the idea of arming oneself with a forecast of next year’s buying would appear a little cynical. The idea that such things can be predicted with any more accuracy than the winner of the Grand National would seem to me foolhardy. We can be certain that next year’s hem line will be different from this year’s but the forces that shape that difference are a demand for fresh stimuli and personality pressures at the centre-to expect a logical and, therefore, predictable sequence is contrary to experience. We admire Bernini for the vigour with which he cast off the hallowed aesthetic shackles of Michelangelo, Rembrandt for his disdain of the Grand Manner and Rubens for his mastery of it. I do not doubt that some very general and eternal aesthetic principles could be drawn up but by their very nature these would be of marginal importance; a guide to artistic good manners rather than a sure recipe for a truthful response, appropriate to a particular situation. REFERENCES 1. E. H. Gombrich,Letters,Leonardo 4, 195 (1971). 2. R. Arnheim, Letters,Leonardo 4, 197 (1971). 3. J. J. Gibson, Letters,Leonardo 4, 197 (1971). 4. N. Konstam, A case for figurative art today, 5. T. Munro, Letters,Leonard0 4, 199 (1971). 6. E. Souriau, Letters,Leonardo 4, 200 (1971). Leonardo 4, 109 (1971). Nigel Konstam 40 Norland Square London, W.11 zyx ,England Texts by aestheticians have appeared recently in Leonardodealingwith aestheticsand the artist today [1-4]. There...