Art History

People who enjoy paintings are sometimes reluctant to analyze them for fear of spoiling the richness
and spontaneity of their experience. It has been suggested that some of the work done by art
historians, whose concern is with theory rather than practice, ignores and indeed denies the aesthetic
experience, the fundamental pleasure of looking, as well as the very special act of artistic creativity.
This view is a bit like the notion that knowing the ingredients of the recipe, recognizing the method
of cooking and seeing the utensils employed detracts from the taste of the dish.
Acknowledging the importance of enjoying something does not, of course, preclude a thorough
knowledge of the object that is arousing pleasure. It might in fact be more pleasurable if we know
more about the object we are viewing. Moreover, pleasure is not a simple matter. The arousal of our
senses - and how we recognize and register it - is itself open to interrogation. It is also historically
located. Why we like particular characteristics of certain sorts of objects at anyone time is not simply
the result of our genes or our own particular personalities but is determined by values promoted
within the society of which we are a part. While no one seeks to underestimate the importance of
sensuous and instinctive responses to art objects, the notion that the sensuous is undermined by the
intellectual is a legacy from a period in the past which promoted art as an alternative to thought.
Art History
People who enjoy paintings are sometimes reluctant to analyze them for fear of spoiling the richness
and spontaneity of their experience. It has been suggested that some of the work done by art
historians, whose concern is with theory rather than practice, ignores and indeed denies the aesthetic
experience, the fundamental pleasure of looking, as well as the very special act of artistic creativity.
This view is a bit like the notion that knowing the ingredients of the recipe, recognizing the method
of cooking and seeing the utensils employed detracts from the taste of the dish.
Acknowledging the importance of enjoying something does not, of course, preclude a thorough
knowledge of the object that is arousing pleasure. It might in fact be more pleasurable if we know
more about the object we are viewing. Moreover, pleasure is not a simple matter. The arousal of our
senses - and how we recognize and register it - is itself open to interrogation. It is also historically
located. Why we like particular characteristics of certain sorts of objects at anyone time is not simply
the result of our genes or our own particular personalities but is determined by values promoted
within the society of which we are a part. While no one seeks to underestimate the importance of
sensuous and instinctive responses to art objects, the notion that the sensuous is undermined by the
intellectual is a legacy from a period in the past which promoted art as an alternative to thought.