Art must please, not teach, but it
is not the artist’s responsibility to imbue morality and correct conduct in the
general populace. Art is created for its own sake, and the passionate artist,
whose heart is set upon fine form and beauty, must allow conduct to take care
of itself. The artist’s responsibility is to inform through his creations – to
be the messenger, not to educate.
The alternate point of view could
be that art must teach, educate, and edify individual and social morality, that
teaching comes with the natural territory of art, regardless of artists want to
or not, and regardless of how passionate and evocative their protestations to
the contrary may be! We have the examples of Ruskin and Browning, who have
demonstrated that it is possible to be interested in resolving the moral and
ethical dilemmas of the day, while continuing to be a fine artist.
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