Art and Degeneration By Thomas E. Brewton

Art historically expressed the highest aspirations of society. In the 20th century art reversed field.

Several months ago I had the pleasure of viewing an exhibition of three-dimensional photo collages by Renee Kahn, who has an unerring eye for the artistic aspects of reality. Her subject was "Urban Dreamscapes: Stamford as a Work of Art."

The occasion was a discussion panel (an artist, an art critic, a film historian-columnist) limning the 20th century setting of art and film as background for Renee's work.

I was forcibly struck by recurrent themes in their presentations, some intended, some paradoxical.

A dominant theme was art, including movies, as recorder of the degeneration of life quality in the great cities.

What came across, however, was the presenters' disdain for the source of order that historically had prevented that degeneration before the 20th century.

In the presentations there was more than a whiff of liberal-Progressive-socialist theory, which asserts that crime and other forms of aggression are caused by the existence of private property and by disparities between top and bottom rung incomes. Free-market capitalism, in the artists' view, is apparently the villain in degeneration of the great cities.

Full Article...

Sphere: Related Content