Introduction to My View of Art
Art: The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Oxford English Dictionary.
Though the OED also shows a secondary definition excluding the part about beauty so that it reads ‘works produced by human skill and imagination’, it is clear that this is not the original meaning of Art, which has like so many facets of life, been re-defined by the modern world view.
Natural beauty is closely connected to the original and more traditional view of art, This for example may be seen in the human body, which in the beginning was very good, natural and unashamed but which has been violated by pornography. The same effect, so very relevant with sexual abuse in the headlines every day, has left us all wondering what IS a natural sexual relationship and how might one legitimately be established.
The connection between art, holiness and "rightness" of beauty is the emphasis of these pages and has a long history of poetic association, for instance as seen in Psalm 29
Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness, give unto Him the glory due His name
Even if one denies anything special about the quotation, it shows the connections between poetry, art and beauty in its culture: people create because He created first. The connection was visible when it was written around 3,500 years ago, 1,600 years ago when Jerome translated it into Latin, 400 years ago when it was translated into the King James English bible and even 35 years ago when the king James bible was revised it was still considered a foundational part of our culture.
The Psalms are a beautiful collection of poems, for example Psalm 19
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Recently I read that the fundamental difference between art and beauty is that art is about who has produced it, whereas beauty depends on who is looking, which appears to sum it up, just about. Since this web site is me doing the producing it will naturally reflect my thoughts. I do not make any apology for this, but do ask that you hang around and take a look before passing judgment.
Copyright © Peter Crowson Updated October 2021
