We shall find it fruitful to begin with the definition recently revived
by Croce: [Footnote: Benedetto Croce: _Estetica_, translated into
English by Douglas Ainslie, under title _Aesthetic_, chap. i.] art
is expression; and expression we may describe, for our own ends, as
the putting forth of purpose, feeling, or thought into a sensuous
medium, where they can be experienced again by the one who expresses
himself and communicated to others. Thus, in this sense, a lyric poem
is an expression--a bit of a poet's intimate experience put into words;
epic and dramatic poetry are expressions--visions of a larger life
made manifest in the same medium. Pictures and statues are also
expressions; for they are embodiments in color and space-forms of the
artists' ideas of visible nature and man. Works of architecture and
the other industrial arts are embodiments of purpose and the well-being
that comes from purpose fulfilled.
This definition, good so far as it goes, is, however, too inclusive;
for plainly, although every work of art is an expression, not every
expression is a work of art. Automatic expressions, instinctive
overflowings of emotion into motor channels, like the cry of pain or
the shout of joy, are not aesthetic. Practical expressions also, all
such as are only means or instruments for the realization of ulterior
purposes--the command of the officer, the conversation of the market
place, a saw--are not aesthetic. Works of art--the _Ninth Symphony_, the
_Ode to the West Wind_--are not of this character.
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