Art for Art’s Sake?

Photo by Yannis Papanastasopoulos on Unsplash

While art is a ubiquitous tool to express new ideas,  push social boundaries and register protest, there is a parallel view that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political or didactic purpose.  Art for art’s sake, a slogan translated from the French l’art pour l’art, which was coined in the early 19th century by the French philosopher Victor Cousin.  Taken from the French, the term “l’art pour l’art,” (Art for Art’s Sake) expresses the belief that art has an inherent value independent of its subject matter, or of any social, political, or ethical significance.  By contrast, art should be judged purely on its own terms: according to whether or not it is beautiful, capable of inducing ecstasy in the viewer through its formal qualities (its use of line, color, pattern, and so on).

Artwork by Yaquta Contractor

Illustration by Pradnya J

Artwork by Yaquta Contractor