December 2017
Intermediate to advanced
208 pages
3h 39m
English
When we look at a work of art, we not only experience it but often pass judgment on it. We deem it to be good or bad, better or worse, comparing it favorably or unfavorably to other works of art. We are making a judgement of its quality. The basis on which such a judgment is made can be hard to define and has a strong subjective component. It can shift depending on the understanding and selective framework of the viewer and with the fashions of the day.
What, then, are we doing when we say that one work of art is better than another? Perhaps we are recognizing that some function better than others. They deliver on what they set out to do in ways that are more imaginative, more surprising, and more satisfying.
Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) ...