Untitled (Fallen Angel)

The previous Wednesday Thoughts on Art have focused on the author perspective, on his/her creative impulse, regarding creation. But could one change the perspective, aiming only for the piece, regardless of any other factor, setting it apart from its origin, from the author's concerns and intentions, and search for objective properties endemic to the piece of art — are there autonomous elements that, when analyzed, determine the nature and the quality of the painting? Monroe Beardsley believes in the existence of a set of internal properties, or relations, from which critical reasoning should derive - such as unity (organization, perfection, coherency); complexity (scale, diversity, originality); and intensity (vitality, power, beauty, profundity). For him, a piece would be ever more respectable if more of these requirements were fulfilled. This perspective seems to focus on the object alone, ignoring other circumstances, like intuition, authorship and intention. Although it would make Art discussion easier, based on "empirical facts". Personally, I like to believe there is more to a creation than the examination of it's product, and so I'm leaving you with this question: What would Beardsley think of this Jean-Michelle Basquiat painting? See you next week, Artur Dionisio