issue 144求拍
"It is the artist, not the critic,* who gives society something of lasting value." 8 M, x5 W& E) E: S
*a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.5 \! u' h2 y& d2 t' T
% z0 }7 G$ U) `# n+ `8 _3 ]& WWhen we appreciate masterpieces of Da Vinci, Van Gogh or Picasso, we are marveling at their genius, immersing in the atmosphere they created, and shocking by the emotion they transmitted through their pictures. Such artists--not rare in painting but common in literature, movie and music area--- are extolled and admired by publics for their results of creation and hard-work which are regarding as containing some lasting value: pursuing for peace, treasuring gentel smile and longing for life's glorious. Meanwhile, though may be easily being ignored, critics also possess their due position in contributing to a long-term valued art-craft." O- Q# u- r; ]* B3 X2 a" s
' Y7 ]" i8 R" E5 C+ JAs the main body of art world, painters, writers, musicians or directors have devoted their whole life into the process of creating time-honored products for mankind. Taking literature as example, within their works, excepting for a brilliant outlooks which may be characterized by excellent descriptions, sophisticate plots and integrated structure,6 d" o! n" X* {0 X3 @$ `- _7 d3 M
the inner spirit, emotion and ideas& J) ]: v, X2 _% F; ^" @3 ?
which are crystal of author's effort to synthesize and relate his observations, to weigh cause and effect of a specific affairs and to see the world in perspective promise a work to keep eternal value. Thus, we may safely draw a conclusion that it's artists' contribution that grants their works lasting values ,after all, women who are as beautiful as Mona Lisa if not common but not rare, but only Da Vinci who could catch the smile and expressed it vividly with a power of gripping one's heart.) {5 S+ z' a4 ]2 A
; Q4 q7 c8 U. gIn addition, we are surprisingly to find out that the group of artists generally are well-educated or own amazing genius in learning, imitating and creating. To some extent, they are the upholders of
/ y3 s8 c" u/ kvaluable cultural legacy and incubators of far-reaching and instructive ideas. In another word, they act not only as creators of new values but also protectors of cultural heritage. Without in evidence of Greek culture, can Michelangelo hardly produce so many splendid works, also, without learning from quintessence of Greek drama, can Shakespeare be difficult in climbing up another peak of literature.0 C. `; V) k9 _
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However, just like what I mentioned before, artists are the main body of art world, but not the only member of it. There are another group of people acting actively in it--critics. From my point of view, they are a special sort of artists: they may also possess talent and potential to be an artist, however, compared to those professional artists, they may be lack of inspiration, opportunity or persistence./ O) o3 T1 K; X# a
But this doesn't hamper them to become great critics, who have the ability to appreciate a art work, promote it to public through their explanation and evaluation. In fact, in real world, according to the limits of educational ground or talents in art, not so many people can tell a distinguished work from a mediocrity. Thus they may turn to seek for help from those critics who are regarded as judges of art works, and establish their opinions on such works based on critics' recommendation and criticize. Everyday, there are countless art works emerging, they may have the opportunity of becoming classics and being honored one generation after another, but most of them will be considered as useless rubbish, forgotten immediately. And it's critics' duty to discover those can really leave values to society and introduce them to publics, especially there is a trend existing in modern art that the works becomes more and more abstract and objective no matter in paintings, films or literatures. Under such condition, critics are taken for granted as a media between artists and publics, explaining profound meanings in such works and making effort to cultivate public's capability to appreciate such works. Until today, I still believe that without critics' promotion, Picasso's paintings can not be as popular as it is today, and people will not turn to have willingness to figure out inner meaning of these abstract pictures. So in a word, a great artist still need a insightful critic to discover its greatness.
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1 J" | V, W* e8 P/ t0 ^4 H4 AIn conclusion, admittedly, it's artists who create great value of art works and leave them to benefit our community, but we can not be neglect of critics' contribution during this procedure, thus, I incline to purport my appraisal of the function of artists and critics in following way: it's their collaboration that leaves such valuable legacy to us.
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