What is Art by Clutton Brock

What is Art by Clutton Brock

The essay “what is art” is taken form the volume “essays on life” by clutton brock and was first published in the form of an article in the

‘times literary’ supplement of january 1924.

“everyone now is thinking or talking about the nature of art and aesthetic experience” .clutton-brock begins his essay by stating the popular subject of discussion.

This subject ;the nature of art and of beauty is simultaneously confusing as well as thrilling .the problem about the nature of art and aesthetic sense is so confusing that it is hard to pin point what the actual problem really is. The only thing clear about it is that it is novel and new. Art, in the past was always considered inferior to what it reflected. Tolstoy in his book “what is art?” ,even though he himself saw the importance of art reduced art to an absurdity and valued it in terns of other things and not for it self. That art had not the right to exist for itself ,that it should be judged and valued not for itself but for other subsidary effects whether political

,social, or moral. Such a conception reduces art to nothing and this conception is the opposite of what art truly is.

Shelly in his work “defense of poetry” considered art to be judged by the ethical and intellectual benefits it showered upon mankind. Jonson spoke uncompromisingly on the nature of art. Dr jonson regretted the loss of a proposed epic by dryden because it led to the deprivation of the social and moral edification of mankind .what jonson meant was that art’s function was to socially improve and morally rectify the viewer ,reader or observor of the work of art. Clutton brock opposes this view and says on the contrary if a pieceof art is lost today its loss would be mourned not for the values it could or would impart but rather it would be mourned for the loss of art itself.

However jonson thought as he did of art because he already had pre conceived otions about art and had not examined art carefully to see the nature of it. If jonson had done so ,he would have seen that art in truth is never valued for moral or ethical or cultural values but for itself. For Jonson himself would not have read poetry for the stated objects . had he doen so then it would have no longer been poetry. Ever since art evolved man has valued art for itself ,without actually knowing it,for men still look for reasons as to why they should value