Why exhibit works of art

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Why Exhibit Works of Art? By Ananda K. Price 6s. Listowel - - Philosophy 19 73 The Making and Meaning of Art. Culture and Art: An Anthology. Coomaraswamy in his essay Why Exhibit Works of Art first tries to explain to the reader the concept of an art museum. Now, the writer goes on to raise the question about the purpose of displaying such objects if the primary objective is to preserve them. He says that it probably serves an educational purpose.

However, he goes to say that the objects alone cannot serve any educational purpose as a layman looking upon it will not be able to discern its value as intended by the creator and will merely look upon it as a curio. The display will only form an educational purpose if along with the curator there is someone present to explain the, history, value and usage of the object within the context of its creation. In case of art, the museum as such does not gain any profit from displaying paintings. However, it acts like the middleman between the artist and the prospective market, bringing the name of the artist to the masses.

Work and Culture are inseparable ideas. Art needs to be looked at from the point of view of the artist and not the audience. So the observer does not become the creator of meaning but the creator himself becomes vital to fully understand the meaning of his work. Is it meant to be communicative in nature or is it meant to elevate? Coomaraswamy believes that art works were not produced for the delectation of the senses but is intellectual in nature. Beauty he says has nothing to do with physical virtue but has to do with knowledge and goodness which makes a work of art attractive.

Therefore works of art are exhibited for expressive reasons and not aesthetic ones. What the artist makes of his work of art is the truth and what people understand of it is highly unreliable due to a number of variations that creep in.

He says that one must not confuse taste with judgment or loveliness with beauty. He then throws light on the effectiveness of ornamentation in a work of art. Ornamentation is characterization, ornaments are attributes. They contain symbolic value and only when this value is lost the ornament becomes irrelevant to the content of the work. An artist creates a work of art when he is inspired.