Literature, Music, Art – in the Name of Beauty
Introduction Wow! To address the elephant in the room, it’s been over half a year since my last post. Calling this slacking off is the understatement of the century! It’s been a particularly busy half a year; I’ve recently moved and I was suffering from a severe back pain which was preventing me from spending … Read more A Defence of Difficult Art
An inhuman, horrifying expression. A dark palette reeking of bleakness, save the pale skin of the victim’s body. There’s little doubt that Francisco Goya’s Saturn Devouring His Son is a masterpiece of the Grotesque – but what makes this painting so effective? In Roman myth, there is a prophecy that one of the sons of … Read more The Horror of Saturn Devouring His Son
Ah yes – the Kunstlied. One of the most popular genres in classical music. Often associated with the Romantic period, their lyrical, contemplative nature is ideal to brood over the beginning of Autumn. Here are my top 10. A Kunstlied (German for ‘Artistic song’) is a poem set to classical music. Unlike the traditional Lied … Read more Top 10 Kunstlieder
When enjoying a work of art, is it ever possible to pursue an objective evaluation, without any influence of one’s personality at all? And if so, to what extent? How do we judge what merit, if any, a work of art has? If you’ve ever discussed a work of art with your friends or family, … Read more The Truth Unfolds: Objective Evaluation of Art
Ah yes. The year 1848. A time of unrest, of a growing gap between the rich and the poor. A time of many revolutionary groups throughout Europe declaring their fed-upness (that’s not a word) with the status quo, attempting to overthrow the previous political establishment. A revolutionary spirit was haunting the continent – mainly in … Read more Three Pre-Raphaelite Paintings