Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art (Classic Reprint) - Softcover
Excerpt from Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art
Let us assume that we are considering an exhibition Of Greek Objects, and call upon Plato to act as our Docent. He knows nothing of our distinction Of fine from applied arts. For him painting and agriculture, music and carpentry and pottery are all equally kinds Of poetry or making. And as Plotinus, following Plato, tells us, the arts such as music and carpentry are not based on human wisdom but on the thinking there.
Whenever Plato Speaks disparagingly of the base mechanical arts and of mere labour as distinguished from the fine work Of making things, it is with refer ence to kinds of manufacture that provide for the needs Of the body alone. The kind of art that he calls whole some and will admit to his ideal state must be not only useful but also true to rightly chosen models and therefore beautiful, and this art, he says, will provide at the same time for the souls and bodies Of your citizens. His music stands for all that we mean by culture, and his gymnastics for all that we mean by physical training and well-being he insists that these ends of culture and physique must never be separately pursued the tender artist and the brutal athlete are equally contemptible. We, on the other hand are accustomed to think of music, and culture in general, as useless, but still valuable. We forget that music, traditionally, is never something only for the ear, something only to be heard, but always the accompaniment Of some kind of action. Our own conceptions of culture are typically negative. I believe that Professor Dewey is right in calling our cultural values snobbish. The lessons of the Museum must be applied to our life.
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Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Let us assume that we are considering an exhibition Of Greek Objects, and call upon Plato to act as our Docent. He knows nothing of our distinction Of fine from applied arts. For him painting and agriculture, music and carpentry and pottery are all equally kinds Of poetry or making. And as Plotinus, following Plato, tells us, the arts such as music and carpentry are not based on human wisdom but on the thinking there.
Whenever Plato Speaks disparagingly of the base mechanical arts and of mere labour as distinguished from the fine work Of making things, it is with refer ence to kinds of manufacture that provide for the needs Of the body alone. The kind of art that he calls whole some and will admit to his ideal state must be not only useful but also true to rightly chosen models and therefore beautiful, and this art, he says, will provide at the same time for the souls and bodies Of your citizens. His music stands for all that we mean by culture, and his gymnastics for all that we mean by physical training and well-being he insists that these ends of culture and physique must never be separately pursued the tender artist and the brutal athlete are equally contemptible. We, on the other hand are accustomed to think of music, and culture in general, as useless, but still valuable. We forget that music, traditionally, is never something only for the ear, something only to be heard, but always the accompaniment Of some kind of action. Our own conceptions of culture are typically negative. I believe that Professor Dewey is right in calling our cultural values snobbish. The lessons of the Museum must be applied to our life.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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From the Back Cover:
About the Author:
The late Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, curator of Indian art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, uniquely combined art historian, philosopher, orientalist, linguist, and expositor in his person. His knowledge of the arts and handcrafts of the Orient was unexcelled and his numerous monographs on Oriental art either established or revolutionized entire fields. He was also a great Orientalist, with an almost unmatched understanding of traditional culture. He covered the philosophic and religious experience of the entire premodern world, east and west, and for him primitive, medieval European, and classical Indian experiences of truth and art were only different dialects in a common language.
Finally, Coomaraswamy was a provocative writer, whose erudition was expressed in a delightful, aphoristic style. The nine essays in this book are among his most stimulating. They discuss such matters as the true function of aesthetics in art, the importance of symbolism, and the importance of intellectual and philosophical background to the artists; they demonstrate that abstract art and primitive art, despite superficial resemblances, are completely divergent; and they deal with the common philosophy which pervades all great art, the nature of medieval art, folklore, and modern art, the beauty inherent in mathematics, and the union of traditional symbolism and individual portraiture in premodern cultures.
A. K. Coomaraswamy was one of the world's greatest art historians and scholars of traditional iconography and is the author of numerous works, including Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art and The Door in the Sky.
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- PublisherForgotten Books
- Publication date2018
- ISBN 10 1330309189
- ISBN 13 9781330309186
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages167
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Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art (Classic Reprint)
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. Print on Demand. Excerpt from Christian and Oriental Philosophy of Art. About the Publisher, Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works. This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some errors may persist, however we consider it worth publishing due to the work's historical value. The digital edition of all books may be viewed on our website before purchase. print-on-demand item. Seller Inventory # 9781330309186_0
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