by Kai McKoy on October 13 2023
All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril.
Above is a quote from Oscar Wilde, a controversial poet and novelist, enticing the audience to this foreign concept of art and its lack of any real meaning. Throughout his piece of literature, The Picture of Dorian Gray, the idea of art is debated. I believe that most art has meaning. In this case, I can’t entirely agree with Wilde’s statement that art has no meaning and is ultimately not supposed to have any profound sense but rather just to be a pretty thing to look at. I think that mindset strips away the piece’s purpose and uniqueness, and “just being pretty” loses attraction because it doesn’t hold any substance or attachment. Wilde also goes on to say that those who look for the meaning of a painting do so at their own “peril,” as if the viewer is straining themselves or torturing themselves to find meaning in something that simply doesn’t mean anything.
Again, I’m afraid I have to disagree with that bold statement.
When I read this quote for the first time, I was taken aback as I thought of many famous painters who painted during a time of a historical crisis, who told stories through their art, or even put a non-verbal autobiography into their piece of artwork; it all holds meaning. I think of two particular artists when I read this quote. One is the famous painter of the Post-Impressionist movement, Vincent Van Gogh. Based on my art history knowledge, Vincent Van Gogh was a struggling man. He dealt with mental adversity and went through a period of depression that was reflected in his art pieces that we know now as the “Blue Period” starting from 1883 and ending with his life – which can also be analyzed for a deeper understanding of his works. In these works specifically, he uses monochrome colors of various shades of blues to showcase his depressive state and unique brushstrokes; according to Wildes, this simple change of artistic palette symbolized nothing, but to the artist, it tells his mental state and his outlook on his own life.
Another artist I thought of was American artist Thomas Hart Benton, a well-renowned painter during the Great Depression/ Harlem Renaissance period. Benton would produce massive murals showcasing the livelihood of working-class individuals during the Great Depression, followed by a panorama display of all the Harlem Renaissance entertainments- as if it played a massive distractor of the current suffering Americans were facing. Art Historians could analyze this depiction of art and find the broader context of how people lived during that period, what other events co-occur, and how they all affected one another. According to Wilde, would Benton’s artwork be meaningful? Would it lead me to my peril to find it meaningful? Or is it just a pretty mural without any meaning or historical storytelling? Agreeing to those questions would be disrespectful and ignorant to ignore all signs posing how much artwork is more than just a picture of a subject.