Art For Art's Sake

    In the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, we're introduced to a character known for his charming beauty, or as Basil sees him - a work of art. Our first impression of Dorian Gray is his beauty, but later we get to see his true personality. All the characters in the novel are quick to judge Dorian as "good" because of his looks, which raises the question of if we should appreciate art at its base value without any consideration for the creator. 

    The author himself, Oscar Wilde, warns the reader that "those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril". Was this Oscar Wilde's way of telling us that ignorance is bliss? Should we also use the same innocent lens that Basil looked through? Or should we strive to have a deeper knowledge of the things we appreciate?

    To me, there is no certain answer, rather I'm compelled to raise more questions. Say the ignorance of not knowing a certain artist's personality or past brings the viewer pleasure. Well in this case it's the decision of whether the guilt of not knowing is greater than the pleasure, or the other way around. Would you want to ruin pleasure for the sake of morality or would you ruin morality for the sake of pleasure?

    Art is never just art. There will always be the wheels of the creator that drive art to its destination. The ideas behind each piece of art are derived from the creators themselves. Although we don't always recognize it, the human brain reacts to everything it sees, hears, or takes part in. With an artist's ideas attached to a piece of artwork, like how Basil felt he put his soul into Dorian's painting, we are either directly or indirectly influenced by the creators themselves. 

    It is up to the viewer to separate the creator from the artwork, those who look at Dorian's painting without knowing Basil's intent will not know the relationship between the two, they will only see the painting of a beautiful man. 

    With this being said, any conclusions drawn from this blog post are done at your peril.