CERCLE 5

T he aesthetic experience is the name given to the result of the confronting of humans and beauty. This aesthetic feeling that is related to an experience, not to a concept. In this respect Oscar Wilde was conclusive, ‘Beauty is a form of Genius - is higher, indeed, than Genius, as it needs no expla- nation’. But only beauty of the spirit is immortal. It is the supreme beauty. Physical beauty is, due to its fleeting condition, imper- fect by definition. In terms of this last reflection, I shall quote the great Leonardo da Vinci: ‘Beauty perishes in life, but is im- mortal in art’. The powerful influence inherited from the great Classical Greek legacy in this respect has shaped itself accord- ing to an overwhelming need to adapt itself, actively involving the act of contemplating beauty as an intrinsic element of the process. This subjectivist perspective conditions the value of beauty to a personal appreciation of it. From Kant onwards, the interpretation of beauty started to undergo an unstoppable evolution towards the romantic ideal. The impact of seeing something beautiful overwhelms us and causes us fascination, all of which leads to a state of enlighten- ing the soul that touches mysticism, especially when the emo- tion pours out from the sensitive soul of an artist, regardless of any other theoretical considerations. In this respect, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer notes: ‘The spectacle of beauty, in whatever form it presents itself, raises the mind to noble aspirations’. But the beauty of nature is, par excellence, the concept of free beauty. It imposes itself onto the human being and contempla- tion thereof feeds our sensitivity, creates harmony and causes aesthetic pleasure; a fascination, a captivation that seems to stop time. Art, although it strives to, does not have that freedom. For any artistic discipline, whether music, literature, theatre, archi- tecture, cinema, painting or sculpture, beauty should be the loftiest of its aspirations. The US art expert, Arthur Coleman Dante, sadly passed away, asserted that from the outset, the 21st century has been witness to the disappearance of beauty in art. Fortunately, however, it seems that all movements are cyclical and are related to historical moments that seek to turn their back on their raison d’être (even if they don’t quite al- ways manage it). ‘Beauty, like truth and kindness’ - Coleman asserts - ‘is one of the pillars that uphold the value of humanity, [...] imagining a world without beauty is like imagining life without kindness. It is something that nobody would want to live through, but I don’t think that art is that important in art. What is important in art is the meaning’. But even if we agree that beauty in art lies in that piece of soul inlaid into each artwork, the spiritual aspect must come about in a way that is both courteous and dexterous. A good artist recognises the essence of their idea and gives it form, linking it to a concept that they then reflect. As the finishing touch, and linked to this last paragraph, I share the opinion of one of the greatest German Romantics, Caspar David Friedrich: ‘The painter must paint not only what he finds in front of him, but also what they see inside it. If they can’t see anything, they should stop painting what is in front of him’. And there is no artwork, as perfect as its execution may be, that can do without soul. Beauty without substance is empty, it is mere frugal entertainment. Only the essence can bring tran- scendence and perpetuity, because it is almost as if what it not remembered never existed. █ ‘Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it’. Confucius (551 BCE - 478B CE), Chinese philosopher.