The Garden of Divided Delights -Evaluation by Collingwood and Tolstoy Yuxuan Chen Philosophy of Art December 6th

Background on the Artist -Yuxuan Chen 1994-Present Started taking drawing lessons since four years old Took oil painting lessons at thirteen years old Continued art education in high school and recipient of regional art awards Worked as cashier/fry cook at McDonald’s during high school Worked generally on landscape/cultural pieces Amateur photographer

“The Garden of Earthly Delights” Hieronymus Bosch

“The Garden of Divided Delights” Oil, 12x16 Addresses the growing unhealthy lifestyle of people today Aims to educate and draw people away from unhealthy foods

Expressionist Theorist: R.G. Collingwood Educated and taught at Oxford University Art is the expression of emotions Exploration of emotion The artist does not really know his or her true emotion before working on the artwork Expression of emotion involves the transition from the vague to the clear as well as from oppression to alleviation Spectator does not necessarily have to experience the exact emotion as the artist, just the general emotion.

Expressionist Theorist: Leo Tolstoy , Russian “Art is a human activity consisting in this, that one man consciously, by means of certain external signs, hands on to others feelings she has lived through and that other people are infected by these feelings and also experience them.” (p.51) Communication of feelings Goal of art is for the unity of humankind Art should not be class-bound Art must be sincere and should not be taught Good art should be related to religious perception

Evaluation Tolstoy and Collingwood: Could be art because… Expression of emotion Transition from vague to clear expressions Transition from oppression to alleviation Unification of humankind

However, Tolstoy argues… Emotions of artist might not match those of the spectator Not “good” art because not religious Imitation because of art lessons Evaluation

Collingwood defends… Emotions just have to be generally the same “Good” art because of imaginary experience and expression of emotions Not imitation because individualization is brought through distinction of emotion Evaluation

Questions? Do you think there are flaws in the views of Tolstoy and Collingwood? How well do you think this painting addresses unhealthy lifestyles and obesity? What emotions did you feel when you saw this painting? How important are emotions in the context of the artwork?

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