Gustave Klimt: The Birch Forest
The question, “What is Art”? has been a problem and a subject of debate for thousands of years. Great philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and 3rd century philosopher Plotinus, as well as many contemporary philosophers such as Nietzsche, Marx, Wittgenstein, Bell, Collingwood, Dickie, Wollenheim and Barthes have argued its’ definition and come up with their own numerous definitions. While the ancient philosophers concentrated more on the idea of the aesthetics (a term not introduced until 1753 by German philosopher Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, even though the study of the nature of beauty had been pursued for centuries), the contemporary philosophers meant to define art, they both have a lot in common as we are faced nowadays with such things as a pile of bricks being entitled art. Anyone who thought about the subject has been forced to consider where the boundaries of art lie. In the following I will use the definitions given by the philosophers to analyse a work of art.According to Plato and classical aesthetics, what we see on canvas is a second interpretation of an interpretation. He believed that reality consisted of archetypes (forms) and that what we perceive around us is onl
Following the institutional theory one also would define Klimt’s painting as a work of art. George Dickie states that all pieces of art have two things in common. First all, art works must be artefacts; that is, they have been worked on to some extent by human beings. Secondly, and more importantly it has to have been given the status of a work of art by some member of the art world, such as the gallery owner, the publisher, etc. This is quite a circular definition. If we were to follow this, then, much like the previously mentioned Platonic geniuses who have the ability to see the perfect form, there are some individuals who can go about “christening” any object they want as art and all they have to do is exhibit it. Further, the institutional theory is the only one of the three theories mentioned, which doesn’t give art a worth. According to both the significant form and the idealist theories to define something as art is to give it a certain worth. The institutional theory ! Marx believed an artwork reflects the interests of a dominant society and that it cannot be classified as great unless it is progressive, i.e. it supports the cause of the society in which it was created. y an imitation of these archetypes, therefore Klimt’s Birch Forest is an interpretation of a perfect birch forest, reinterpreted. Aristotle saw it slightly different. He saw such a painting as an imitation of things as they ought to be. He believed that an artist, in this case Klimt, separated the form from the trees and imposed this onto another matter; canvas. He believed that this was a particular representation of an aspect of things and that this was an imitation of the universal whole. In contrast, Plotinus a Neoplatonic philosopher born in Egypt believed that art reveals an object more clearly than is possible in ordinary experience. just defines it as art, neither good or bad.
Some topics in this essay:
Bell Art,
Bendetto Croce,
George Dickie,
James Joyce’s,
Intentional Fallacy,
Plotinus Neoplatonic,
Birch Forest,
RG Collingwood,
Gottlieb Baumgarten,
Wollenheim Barthes,
birch forest,
significant form,
believed art,
aesthetic emotion,
piece art,
painting art,
klimt’s painting,
institutional theory,
cause aesthetic emotion,
art according,
ideal form,
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Approximate Word count = 1517
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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