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Benjamin presents the thematic bases for a theory of art by quoting the essay "The Conquest of Ubiquity" (1928), by Paul Valéry, to establish how works of art created and developed in past eras are different from contemporary works of art; that the understanding and treatment of art and of artistic technique must progressively develop in order to understand a work of art in the context of the ...
Art criticism is the discussion or evaluation of visual art. [1][2][3] Art critics usually criticize art in the context of aesthetics or the theory of beauty. [2][3] A goal of art criticism is the pursuit of a rational basis for art appreciation [1][2][3] but it is questionable whether such criticism can transcend prevailing socio-political ...
"Against Interpretation" is Sontag's influential essay in Against Interpretation and Other Essays, which discusses the divisions between two different kinds of art criticism and theory: formalist interpretation and content-based interpretation. Sontag is strongly averse to what she considers to be contemporary interpretation, that is, an ...
Theory of art. A theory of art is intended to contrast with a definition of art. Traditionally, definitions are composed of necessary and sufficient conditions, and a single counterexample overthrows such a definition. Theorizing about art, on the other hand, is analogous to a theory of a natural phenomenon like gravity.
Essay. An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal and informal: formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization ...
Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia brought significant cultural developments, including the oldest examples of writing. The art of Mesopotamia rivalled that of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated and elaborate in western Eurasia from the 4th millennium BC until the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered the ...
Art for art's sake. Art for art's sake —the usual English rendering of l'art pour l'art (pronounced [laʁ puʁ laʁ]), a French slogan from the latter half of the 19th century—is a phrase that expresses the philosophy that 'true' art is utterly independent of any and all social values and utilitarian function, be that didactic, moral, or ...
Didacticism. Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. [1][2][3] In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain. [3]