Chapter III: The Beauty of Art or the Ideal

A. The Ideal as such

1. Individuality which partakes of Beauty.

[(_a_) The nature of the conditions under which Art can express a profound and infinite spiritual content

(_b_) What Art rejects from natural embodiment in order to effect this revelation, which is also a purification

(_c_) This "referring back" of external form to spirituality, or inwardness, issuing in harmonious individuality, is the very nature of the Ideal

(_α_) The blythe serenity of antique art

(_β_) The treatment of emotion by romantic art

(_γ_) Irony]

2. The Ideal relatively to Nature

[(_a_) The formal ideality of a work of art, _i.e._, the element of poetry therein

(_b_) The creative faculty contrasted with Nature in its power to grasp ideal significance, with illustrations of this power

(_c_) The nature of this spiritual recreation of natural fact by Art originating in the energy of mind. Illustration with the example of Dutch art in its genre painting, also with that of portraiture and classical art]

B. The Determinate Character of the Ideal

I. Ideal determinacy as such

1. Thought apart from the plastic material can only comprehend the Divine in its universality and unity. Mohammedan and Hebrew art

2. The polytheistic aspect of Hellenic art considered, as also Christian art

3. The relation of the arts of painting and sculpture to the latter. The transition from the principle of spiritual repose to that of development and conflict

II. The Action

1. The universal World-condition

[(_a_)

(_α_) The self-subsistency of such a condition as a necessary _prius_ of the embodiment of the Ideal

(_β_) The nature of the reality adapted to artistic treatment as contrasted with what is not so adapted. The fixed order of the State as contrasted with conditions most favourable to free individuality

(_γ_) Further examination of contrast in relation to judicial functions and the ideas of punishment or revenge as we find it in the heroic age. The reappearance of an analogous condition in the Middle Ages

(_b_) Modern prosaic life the condition most favourable to the private or personal life as an object of interest

(_c_) Resistance by individual poets to this process of social change. The permanent demand for the heroic]

2. The Situation

[(_a_) The situation that is devoid of situation

(_b_) The situation as defined in its harmlessness or absence of further conflict

(_α_) The movement from pure tranquillity to movement or expression. Illustrations from classical art

(_β_) Movement as related to externality. The initial stage of action. Greek sculpture

(_γ_) Situation in movement presented as an opportunity to further expression. Illustrations from poetry]

(_c_) The Collision

[(_α_) Collisions which arise from wholly material conditions. Only of artistic interest as a consequence of natural misfortune. Illustrations

(_β_) Spiritual collisions dependent on natural conditions. Classified and illustrated.

(_γ_) The above only form the starting-point of the collision of the essential forces of spiritual life. The third and most important type is the collision caused by the disruption of Spirit alone. Illustrations]

3. The Action

(_a_) The universal forces operative in the action.

[(_α_) These forces are the eternally paramount religious and ethical modes of relationship, such as family, fatherland, church, friendship, status, honour, and love. They are children of the one absolute Idea. Illustration of their contention

(_β_) They must not act in discord with the main action. The position of evil powers as confronting them, and its treatment by classic and modern poetry

(_γ_) Such forces must appear in Art as embodied in particular personalities. Contrast between ancient and modern art in this respect]

(_b_) The individuals concerned in the action

[(_α_) The relations between gods and men in classical art, and that between the Divine and the human in Christian art

[_β_] Pathos considered in its relation to various modes of art]

(_c_) Character

[(_α_) Viewed as co-extensive or self-coherent individuality, relatively, that is, to the intrinsic wealth it connotes. Illustrations

(_β_) Viewed relatively to the particular form under which it is bound to appear

(_γ_) Viewed as a concrete unity coalescing wholly with its determinate form and as assured character. Illustrations classified in their stability and lack of such]

III. The External Determination of the Ideal.

1. The abstract Externality as such.

[(_a_) Spatiality, Uniformity, Figure, Time, and Colour.

(_α_) How far such contribute to artistic production

(_β_) The necessity of clear articulation of form and tone considered]

2. The Coalescence of the concrete Ideal with its external Reality

[(_α_) The bond of unity regarded as no positive reality, but as a mysterious or secret connection. The relation of external Nature to the work of art. The Homeric poems contrasted with the "Niebelungenlied" in this respect

(_b_) Where the unity is expressly due to human activity and human adaptation of means to ends

[(_α_) The use made by man of ornament or of anything used for mere show, _e.g._, precious metals for statuary

(_β_) The question how far objects used for practical purposes are suited for art. The idyllic, civilized and heroic condition compared in the degree they are thus adapted

(_γ_) The spiritual environment itself in social institutions, etc., regarded in its relation to ideal character]

3. The Externality of a work of Art in relation to a Public

(_a_) What is implied in the assertion by the artist of the particular culture of his own times?

(_b_) What may be regarded as truth when the reference is to a Past, either in an exclusive or objective sense?

(_c_) What may still be regarded as valid in truth though the matter be appropriated from a time and nationality foreign to the artist? All three questions discussed and illustrated]

C. The Artist

1. Imagination, Genius, and Inspiration

2. The objective character of the artistic presentation

3. Manner, Style, and Originality.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF FINE ART