Art as Imitation

Art as Imitation

1. We learn from art because the imitations it provides teach us something about the world

   • Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
     • represents the fluidity and grace of movement of ballet dancers

2. the more successful the imitation, the better the art

3. valued for a true to life depiction of a scene

   • Constable's The Hay Wain

4. Heda's Still Life with a Lobster

   • valued for accuracy and level of detail in creating a still life that is authentic, realistic and life like

5. Plato

   • art is only a copy of reality therefore it is essentially deceptive
     • it is an imitation of an imitation of the original concept
     • extremely imperfect
   • art is not a good path to knowledge
   • art has no real practical purpose

6. Criticisms of Plato

   • presupposes the existence of a world of forms to begin with
   • assumes the key to successful art is accuracy
     • abstract art
       • Malevich's The Black Square
   • artist's aim is not to represent material objects, but rather to grasp their essence
   • possible to see art as imitation but not devalue it as 'mimesis'
     • Raphael - 'in order to paint a beautiful woman... I make use of a certain idea that comes into my head'
       • He tries to represent the ideal woman - not a woman who actually exists
   • purpose of art is not only to imitate objects but to represent their essence
     • Idealism
     • Vecchio's A Blonde Woman

7. Trompe l'oeil

   • most impressive in terms of skill at representing reality as it seems three-dimensional and deceives the audience
   • However can we say that Trompe l'oeil artworks are better than Picasso's Guernica or Van Gogh's Chair because they are less realistic
   • del Caso's Escaping Criticsm
   • we can work out quickly that it is only an illusion

8. If art was only imitation, it would be an illusion whose aim was to deceive

   • it would be a failure as soon as we worked out that it is an illusion
   • How can art inform us if its purpose is to deceive us?