What is the relationship between art and truth?
Art and truth are directly related because art is a way of expressing the truth. It may not be the literal truth, but it is the truth that the artist perceives. Art is created by the expression of the artist, so whatever emotion and meaning the artist puts behind that piece of art is a little piece of truth from that artists mind. Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon is an example of an artist portraying truth in his art. Picasso expresses the true nature of feminine beauty and prostitution through this rough and almost disturbing painting. Although art expresses the truth behind the artist, that truth may not extend to the rest of society. The artistic interpretation of a certain scene or issue may represent the truth in the artist's mind, but not truth whatsoever in the mind of an observer.
Beauty is something that can really influence the appreciation of art. If a piece of art is aesthetically beautiful, it is usually much more appealing to those who view it than a piece of art that shows no aesthetic beauty. Although beauty may make art more pleasurable to look at, it absolutely does not make it more truthful. In some cases beauty can actually conceal the truth. The truth of something that is portrayed with beauty in a piece of artwork may actually be quite ugly. Although a piece of art is capable of displaying enormous amounts of beauty, emotion, and meaning, the true nature of the artist is always revealed in his work.
I do agree that everybody interprets truth in art differently and not necessarily the way that the artist intended them to. I also agree with you saying that art that aestheticism in art can conceal the true beauty of the truth that's being displayed. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with everything said in this post. I love how you wrote that in art you don't see the "literal" truth. I feel like when people talk about how truthful art is, non artists never understand that people are talking about the artists own truth. It is the way the artist views the subject they are recreating or the way they are truthfully feeling on the inside and how they are letting it out into the world. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that beauty can conceal the truth. You're right, sometimes people will make an ugly thing beautiful just to make it more pleasurable to look art. The need for art to beautiful can make it hard for art to be truthful.
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