Mailbox: What is "Classical"?
A. Simons
Issue date: 10/24/05 Section: Editorials
As an art student, the article "University Organization Censored" left me asking questions. The foremost concern I have, is what exactly is "classical art?" And if classical art is allowed to be displayed, who are these higher powers that deem it to be classical?
If classical equates timelessness, there are many instances through art history that are timeless yet could be considered unacceptable. For example, Corbet a predecessor of the Impressionist movement, and thus valid classic figure in art history, completed a work entitled "The Origin of the World" depicting female genitalia. Is this timeless? Yes. Is it classical? This depends...
If we take the idea of classicism to the utmost barebones of the definition, it is traced back to ancient Greek sculpture. These statues and studies were not based on humans, but rather on ideas of perfection. If I paint a fat, nude, wrinkled woman in a classic pose (IE, emotionally disengaged and proportionally consistent with anatomical ratios) is she classic even though she is not based on the idea of perfection. And can we, as post-postmodern artists even consider the idea of classical perfection a valid source of inspiration? This is the 21st Century, and not Neoclassicism after all. And how am I, as an artist, to grow when classical ideas are the only ones considered worthy of display?
If classical equates timelessness, there are many instances through art history that are timeless yet could be considered unacceptable. For example, Corbet a predecessor of the Impressionist movement, and thus valid classic figure in art history, completed a work entitled "The Origin of the World" depicting female genitalia. Is this timeless? Yes. Is it classical? This depends...
If we take the idea of classicism to the utmost barebones of the definition, it is traced back to ancient Greek sculpture. These statues and studies were not based on humans, but rather on ideas of perfection. If I paint a fat, nude, wrinkled woman in a classic pose (IE, emotionally disengaged and proportionally consistent with anatomical ratios) is she classic even though she is not based on the idea of perfection. And can we, as post-postmodern artists even consider the idea of classical perfection a valid source of inspiration? This is the 21st Century, and not Neoclassicism after all. And how am I, as an artist, to grow when classical ideas are the only ones considered worthy of display?