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Should Art Be About Personal Expression?

Should Art Be About Personal Expression?

The case for impersonality

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James Gurney
Nov 11, 2024
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Should Art Be About Personal Expression?
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Many writers on art have described painting in terms of personal expression. The job of the artist is to filter reality through his or her distinctive viewpoint. Émile Zola, for example, wrote that painting allows us to see a little corner of nature through another’s temperament.

Others have shifted the view even more inward, suggesting that art is esse…

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