The Useless Masterpiece.
The Contemporary Workshop| N° d'inventaire | 22762 |
| Format | 14.5 x 21 |
| Détails | 131 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Strasbourg, 2020 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9782850350047 |
The current use of the term masterpiece seems paradoxical. It is denied by the reality of art, which proceeds from a work producing pieces in series; decried by the times, which reject it as an anachronistic, if not antidemocratic, notion; distorted by the market, where it is used to designate the work of an artist that sells for the most money – and yet, it persists in the form of a compass, a ne plus ultra, a supreme aesthetic experience: never have the canvases of masters seen so many spectators. Starting from this observation, Éric Suchère and Camille Saint-Jacques each offer an essay, under a title – The Useless Masterpiece – which is intended less provocative than problematic. For if the aim here is to question what one could call a decline of the masterpiece, one will find in these pages no lamentation of principle. not to give in, therefore, to a massive depreciation of contemporary trends, but to forge the criteria which will allow us to understand them and appreciate their appropriateness.
The current use of the term masterpiece seems paradoxical. It is denied by the reality of art, which proceeds from a work producing pieces in series; decried by the times, which reject it as an anachronistic, if not antidemocratic, notion; distorted by the market, where it is used to designate the work of an artist that sells for the most money – and yet, it persists in the form of a compass, a ne plus ultra, a supreme aesthetic experience: never have the canvases of masters seen so many spectators. Starting from this observation, Éric Suchère and Camille Saint-Jacques each offer an essay, under a title – The Useless Masterpiece – which is intended less provocative than problematic. For if the aim here is to question what one could call a decline of the masterpiece, one will find in these pages no lamentation of principle. not to give in, therefore, to a massive depreciation of contemporary trends, but to forge the criteria which will allow us to understand them and appreciate their appropriateness.