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    John Berger Selected Essays

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    H Lee

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    | John Berger treo Tho Labours Selected Essays | | | 1 (Pig Earth, Oncoin Europa, Lacan Flog: Toy) |APainir ef Our Time Permanent es The Foot ot Civ Corton Freedom Edited by Geotf Dyer A Fortunate Man Nt and Revoion ‘The Momont of Cubism an Other Essays ‘The Look ot Things: Storied Essays ant Artes Ways of Seeing Another Way fTting ‘ASoventh Man 6. ‘voit Looking ‘And Our Facas, My Hea, it as Photos ‘Tha Sones cf Sight ‘The Suocess ane Fale of Pasko Kooning a Rendazvous ‘othe Wecsng Photocopies ‘The Shape a a Pocket Pantheon Books, Now York | AMVHGITAINN SWVITHA #390 Juan Gris ‘iy temperament Gris appears ta have been obstinate, cold, mean, but ‘courageous aboot his alt ~ he el 3 fry is great ites 8 Sristwerehisineligence and clarity, the later quay beng dhe res, ‘swith Stendhal, ofan extreme, dipined frankness He was 8 nea {Ttsentn as any modem paler has been, and dus, becanse Picasso's fend eaque’s deanery of Cubism was dhe discovery ofa formal, Gris Stas the poret and most ap ofall oe Cubist. may seem shocking in ur period of hysterical indvvalsn 1 ay ‘that Cubism applied formula, Ye this wastisunique advantage overall ‘ther twentieth centry movements and is why many seconde artis ttho came under ts nflence were temporarily made strate. AL best Jews no, ofcourse a formula for making pictures. ldhoug i finally ‘became that ie wosaforsulafornterpreting and understanding esi “Theoretical, the realty ofan ject fora Cubist consid ofthe sa toc of alts penile apperances Yetin practice this wal could never be srived at Beonse the munber of possible vn appearances (or pect) was infinite. Consequently the mast the Cubist could do wat Somehow to sages the range of, the nny of pels open 0 his ‘non. The eal subject of a Cubist painting isnot bote ora ili the [eal subjetis aye the same, and ithe fcioning of ight ele The ‘ote the satin is only the point of focus, te sake to whi the arin icing von sted. (The Cabs’ rick of imitating the ssfaces ‘tube objects they were pala ~by wood graaing, marble patterning, Cee serve tof hi cra focus in tie quickest possible way) TO {ook at 2 Cubist printing is Ie looking at a str, The sr exis ‘jective as does the subject ofthe paiting, Baris shape ihe resale fof our Hoking ait. "Theat, in other words, became hs own subject, notin any subjective oF egocenzic manner, But as a result of his considering 0 himself and the functioning of his own sense at an integral part ofthe Nature fe was sndying, This war the formula for Cubism and when (Cézanne isinet on being fitful to Nate wa is pte sation be predicted Again, however, Tanto emphasize that Forma mean {new rewolasenary rath, which, once posed, ean be generally eared, ‘aught and applied, Why revolutionary? Because, simultaneously with the scenic dacoreres ofthat period (Ruuherford, Phnck, Finstrs) Srhich were just beginning to give man, for the fa ime in bisory he Dosiiliy ofan adequate contol of ixervonment, de Cubist formula Dpreuppased, alo forthe Bt me ia isy, man ving wnalienared from Nature. And ts perhaps ths which explains why those Few Cubist pete ich were created during the year immediately preceding the Fit Worl War are the calmen works painted since dhe French Revol Following the war and is consequences, the prophetic confidence of the Cubist was Broken. They had enlarged the orabulary of painting, ‘but te rewhuonary meaning of what they had added was lagely Torgtten, Only Lager remained consitenty fithil to the egal ‘pint of Cublut: Pleanso was x0 spamodically: whist Braque and Gris ‘ihdtew into decorative tions ~ rian a architec spirit Brae With the sprit ofa epicure poet. ttl seems lial to believe, however, that when evenly @ smoudera tradition ofr and teaching is exalted ~ and this radiion tilineily be material in pllesophy and uncommercialin context, vis to Cubism that fe exponents will tum a8 4 Martin pon 1058 ‘The Moment of Cubism “ns essay i dodcatec o Barbara Nan who groped tin sn ABC ‘sashop of te G's in Road along tre ago, Cts hommes sort dos canes ‘Qu covet on ee rare teint a fn fe Fave Neu Qu il at oésert Pha ot que 6 tat pase seats “The things that Peasso and {010 ov ano dung those years wll nove set again, ‘sd oven thoy war, ‘one would understand tam ary moe Nv te ‘boing roped togeber ona mount. Ceorges Brea ‘he are happy ements, bet no happy patodsnhitor. Amol Hower Tho work of at therefore ty hatin tho bearing sedlrot a fozen ain ons own Listy ‘find ithard to believe chat the aos exceme Gubis work were painted ‘over fit yeas ago Tete that Toul not expert them to have best ‘Palnted today. They are hoth too optimise atl to revohtonary for {hat Perhaps in away ain surpried tht they have been painted ata It ‘would sem more ky that they were ye to be pained. ‘Do I make things unnecesarly complicated? Would i not he more ‘lp to sy simp the few rent Cubist works were painted bemreen 1907 and 1914 And perhaps wo qualify this by adding tata few nore, by Juan Gris, were painted lite Inter? “And array isitnoc nonsense think of Cubs having not yet taken place when we ae sounded i daly life bythe apparent elects of an Cubism? AN modern design, achitecte and tows planning ems inconcenabe witout the mia example of Cubism. "Nevertheless must insist on te sensation have in front ofthe works ‘emseles the tension tat the works and Ty as Took at them, ae ‘aught, pinned dow, in an enclave of tne, wating be released and to ‘nti a journey tat began i 1907 Ccabisn waa je of pining which eves very gui, and whose favour sages cane ty pelea dened Yt thee were also {Gahut poct, Cait sculptors snd ner on socalled Cubist dosigners Sn acitecs Ceres onigial i features of Cbism can be ound {nhc near york of oer moneents Supa, Consacism, Fucirum, Vor, the de i! maneroen “Ti quendon ins are can Cann be adequately dened 29h? ‘uacems ney, Norean i be defined 8 poy. ere mas never 27 (Gat nanfeso. The opinions sd oto of Ps, Braque Leger ot Jenn Grower ary sey diferent even rng he eye thet ‘Sons many fener tn common. tno ehough at de stor of Cub icine hoe work tat are now gery agreed to be win Thi wench for deer, collectors, and eaalogers ‘ho go bythe aime orc horns Bus nt cee, noah or ren dose whom the stylistic category satisfies are wont to say that ‘cabism consists eolsonary change in theory fare Ler we Shaan ths ean i deta The concept of pang ast had Exitedanc he Renaimance was ovrhrown The es ofa hing up Sinier te manuy became 2 nowalge one: a means of dining incead of interpesing realy ihe word "evolu ed sein and nt mer aan epithet {or issn’ snore pra proces Novevludon snp the rev of personal erga, The maiioum dat suck ogi on tehioe madness made eousonary eedom confined to he me ‘Caso cannot be explained in erm ofthe gens of i exponents ‘And ths is empliasied by the Bet at est of them. became es Dfound arise when they ccaed oo be Cabin Even Braue and roan neer sured the works of heir Cubist pero snd peat (ea of th tet work wo infer “The sory of ham Cabin bape in terms of paatiog and of he seating proogoniss hs ten sd any ens The prosagons thet ‘ees found extent diicn~ bo athe tne and afterwards 0 Crplain the meaning of wt thy were ding "Foie Cabs, Cuban wpe, To sit pat of history Bat 4 cowl united pat Cis should be considered not 38 8 re sic category but a moment (een if moment lating si or seven Years) experienced bya certain number of people. A aeangely placed, Te was 4 moment in which dhe promises of the fare were more subsanal thn dhe present With te important excepion ofthe aant- {fae attr during Few year after 1917 n Moscow, the condidence of the Cubists has never since been equalled among sit D-H. Kahler, who was a eend of dhe Cubist and hoe dealer, has 1 ed dhe seven crucial year Sen 1907 to 114 wih my picter fiends --- what occurred a Battie in the phew will be understcdaly i ome bears in mined that a new epoch wan bing ‘orn in wich man (all mankind in fat) was undergoing wasn: ‘aon more radical han anyother Enown within ial ines ‘What was the nature ofthis transformation? Ihave ontined ebewhere (The Suzan and Fare of ene) the easion between Gabi and the economic, technological and seientiie developments of the period ‘There seems litle point in repeating this heres ather, I would ike © ‘ay to push lite fer our definion of the philosophic meaning af ‘hese developmen and thes eninedenee ‘An interlocking word system of imperil opposed to i sora ‘nternasonalthe founding of modern physic, piilogy and scaly: the inerearng ue of elect, the invention of raco st the cinemas ‘the beginnings of mass production: dhe publishing of maswcreulaon ‘newspapers the ney sctral posibies offered by de aalabity of ‘tec and auminiuay the rapid development of chemical indtres and {he production of suthetie materials the appearance ofthe motorcar land de aeroplane: ‘what did all his mean? "The question may seem so vast that i leads to despair Vet there ae sare historical moments to which rich 2 quesion can perhaps be applied. These are moment of eouveryence, when numero derlop- Imentscnter a period of snilar qualitative change, before diverging 2 mulupicey of new terme Few of thse who tive through sich a ‘moment can grasp the ful sgaicance of the qualitative change taking place; bt everybody isavare ofthe ines changing: de fue instead SF otlering contin appears to adrance toward het, “Thiswas surely dhe case Furope fom about 1900 1914~although fone must remember, when studing the evidence, at the reaction of ‘many people to their ow awareness of change isto pretend to ignoce “Apollinaie, who wasthe greatest and mont represntcve pote of the ‘Cubist movement, repeatedly Fler to the fuze in his poetry. ‘here my youth fe So we the ae ofthe furore ou mst Eno that Tapenk today ‘To wl the whole worts “Tha the ar of prophecy is bom a at ‘The developments which converged atthe beginning ofthe went century in Europe changed the meaning ofboth tne and space. Al in (dierent ways sme tan aid eters fll of promis, ellered 3 Uberation from the immediate, from the rigid diaunction bewween absence and presence. The concept of the Bel, fast pu forward by Faraday when wresting with the problem ~ ax defined in tadonal terms of action ata distance’, entered now, unacknowledged at ll :modes of planning and caeulation and even into many modes of elig. “There wasastaring extension through ne and space of human power ‘and hole For the Ret ne the world, an otal, ceased tobe ‘nracon ad became rable Tf Apolinir was the greates Cubist poet, Hike Cendars was the ‘rt. Hi poem Les Pique 3 New York (1912) had a profound influence ‘on Apollinaie and demonarated to him how radically one could break ‘with Wadion. Th thre major poems of Cendras a this time were all, Concerned with raeling but traveling in anewscnac across maze lobe. In Le Panama ou Lex Aventures de Mes Sept Ones’ he writes: Pocary dates fom wey ‘Them way round my neck ‘Theo herapheret oo yey “At ful peed ‘There are no more breakdowns Het had she ue to save aie money Td eying in thea ow hae eer my seat in the ft ain srough the nel under the Channel 1am the is pilot cro the Aland slo 900 alin “The $00 aulions probably refers othe then exited population ofthe world, 1 i important toe how anreaching were the comeguences of tis change and why i can be termed qualitative, It “was not merely a queston of faster transport, quicker messages, a more ‘complex scent voeabuary, lager sceumalations of expt wider ‘markt, interatonal orgalzations etc. The process of he secular Hom of the world was at lst complete, Arguments against te existence of God had achiesed lite. But nom man vas able to extend Kinalf indefinitely beyond the imme’ he took over he etry in space ‘and ise where God had heen presumed 10 exis. “Zone the poem that Apoliize wrote under the immed inf ‘ence of Gendrars, contains the follwing Hines his pup of the ee “Twente pop of the cenuaris now how ‘Tis ceatry changed into a tr ascends Uke Joos esis in pits rie he ead to wath it ‘They my ie iosng Simon Magis of Jen sta Hy yell ell ae ye Angels wing pst is uapene Tears Enoch Has Apellonis of Tyna Hover round he fit aeroplane Diepering a ne oletthongh the prices ‘Ae tey bese the Holy Hct. Forever sending nd rang the Hos. ‘The second consequence concerned the relation of the self wo dhe sccularzed world. There was no longer any esential fscontinty between the individual and the general. The ive and the mule no longer intervened between each indivi and the work It was becoming more and more difeul to think in terms of having been ‘placa te word. Aman Was pat of the world and inde rom fan entirely orignal sense, which remains atthe bas of modern con- ‘oumes a maa war the wold which he merited, ‘Aga, Apolinate express the "have known since then the bouguet of the word ‘am deunk Gor hang dunk tbe sniere whe Allshe previous spirit problems ofreligion and maraly would now be Increasingly concentrated In a un's choice of ade tothe exiting sta ofthe world considered as his own existing sate tis now only against the word within his own conscousnes, chat he can measure his stature. He enhanced or diminished according ta owt ‘he acts towards the enhancenent oe dininishment ofthe word is set parc from the world, his self wrenched fom is lobal eantcet~ dhe sums Of all exiting social conieate~ ie a mere biological accident. The Secularization of the word exacts is price aswell ax fering the privlege ff choice, dearer dan anyother in his. ‘palin: 1am exrwhere or rather I sar w be everywhere eis who am staring this thing ofthe centres ‘As soon as more than one man sys this, or Feet or aspires towards ‘eling it~ and ene mst emmember thatthe nodon and te feling are the consequence of numerous material developments impinging Soo milionsoffies~ae soon a this happens, he uty of the world has ben proposed. “The ern unity of dhe world can aequire a dangerosy top sara Butonly ft though to be political applicable to the world a itis A ‘ine qua non for the sniy of the word dhe end of exploitation, The ‘anon of thi fact what renders the term wopian. ‘Meanwhile the term is other gniGrations. ta many respects (the Declaraon of Human Rights, miliary strategy, communications, ete) the world since 1900 hasbeen rested 28 single unit The unity of the ‘word has received defo region "Today we know thatthe work ould be unified, jus as we know that at men should ave equa rights Insofar as x man denice Sie Acguiesces in its denial, he denies the unity of his own self. Hence the profound paychological skew of the imperial counties, hence ‘he conupton implicit so mck af hie earning— when owedge s vied to deny knondede. “At he motwent of Cubism, no devils ere necessary Ttwas.a moment of prophecy, but prophecy asthe bass of a wansformation dat had scaly begun, “Apolinaie Already Ucar the sil sound of the fiends wie to come ‘Who see with you in Europe ‘Wnust never lang America 1 do not wih o mages» general pid felt opis Fee todo pone, extn fer and desperation. The major ald ‘aly be concerned with he cab of ter arr nd lions dil not Surin Bator thew ste queton, there were newpostne severe ‘hon antenscgaeemediobegsaraieedbywexieenee ofr ore “he svt manent nope Gh hen oa od scons of the tradeanon movement im the Uri ‘Shiny were conc ht ny erm eee of svn abd a the eottion would sre o become a wold revouon, This beet fees snced even by the who aged sbovt te poll meane “esenny-by pda poramentaans, common and snares. “Amar ino sing ws comin mene aero e 7 ‘hopélesness and defeat People now beeved, ino for theses then for the future, in victory. The belief was often strongest where the condidons were wort Exeyone who war exploited or dewntodden land who had the suength leo alk hon the pspose fbi erable Tite was able to hear i answer the echo of declarations Eke that of [chen the laksn snarchi who stabbed the Empres of Aust in 1808: "The hour snot fr ditantwhen anew sn wllakine upon all en alike’ or ike that of Kalyae in 1905 wh, on being sentenced to death for te assasiation ofthe Gonernor General of Moscow, tld the cout "eo lear to look the advancing rewiution sagt in the ee ‘An end was in sight The list, which nl now had alwys reiminded men ofthe unatainabity of thes hopes, beeame sideniy fn encouragement. The orld became a starting point “The small cle of Cubist painters and weitere were not diecy lnolred in polities They id noe chink in plieal tera. Yet they were ‘concerned witha revoladonary waneformation ofthe wold. How wt this possible? Again we find de answer In Whe hstricl ting ofthe (Cabist movement. It as not then ewental for a man’s intellect inzgrny to make a politcal choice. Many developments, as they co ‘verged to undergo an equkalent quabtative change, appeared 0 pro mise a transformed word. The promise was an overall one, “Allis posible; wrote André Salmon, another Cust poo, “everthing Is veaizable everwhere and with eweryhing” Imperialisn had begun the proces of unifying the world. Mas production promised eventually a world of pleny. Mamereuiation hewspapers promined informed democracy. The aeropline promined tomake the dream of arssteal The eile contradictions born of the convergence were not yet clear. They became evident in 1914 ad they vwere fit pollcaly polaized by the Ruan Revolition of 1917. El Tistaky, one of the great innovators of Ranian revlsionary a¢ unl thisart was upprested, implies in a biographical ote how the moment of political choice came from the condions af dhe Cubs moments ‘he Fof Bs Lyf it 105 erry generston was bor ‘few doren years before dhe Great October Reon. savcesroms A flow centres ago our ancestors had the ck (o make he great woyages of dzone ‘1 We, the grancularen of Clube, are creating the epoch of the mos glonous inventions ‘They have ade oor lobe very al, bot have expanded oor pce sod intensified our te. "sao: My fe accompanied ly unprecedented sensations, ‘Barely Sie yeas old Thad the ruber leads ‘of Basen’ phonograph stack in my eas. Fight ear dT chasing afer she Sat elec tram in Stolensh the dia frce ‘hich drove the pean horses out of the town ‘conrassion or hate: The seam engine rocked py ‘cradle In the meant har gone the may of al ehihyosrses Machine are cesing 1w have ft belie fl of intetines, Already eave he compressed ile ff dyramos withthe eerie bain. Mauer and mind ae dct trated thigh crankshaft Sd ths made to won, ‘Gray ad ier are being overcome, 1918: bn 1918 Meacow before my jes the shortest parked which pide wot in bat This souks drone our present part ike a wedge ‘between yesterday and tomorrow My work ems par of devin the wedge (One belongs here o there here no mide, ‘The Gobisemorementendedn France a 1914 With the war anew ind ‘of sutfering was bor. Men were forced o face for the fe time the fll horror ~notof hell or damnation, ors lot bate, or fuine, or plague ‘but the fll horror of what stood inthe wy of thee own progress And they were forced to face thin terms of thelr nn responsi nti ‘erm: of ample confrontation ax between clearly defined enemies ‘The sae of the waste and the ieratonaliy and the degree to which men eonld be persuaded an forced to deny ther own intreat ed to the bebe tat shere were incomprehensible and bind forces at work But since dese fores could no longer be accommodated by religion, and since there was no stal by which they could be approached 0° appeased, cach man ha to Bee wih them satin hima st best he coe ‘Within him they desmoyed tis wil and couSdence. ‘On the Last page of AU Quit am the Wise Front de hero thnks: ‘am ery quiet Let the montheand year come, theyean ake nothing ‘Hom me hey can ake nothing more. Tam 0 alone, and so widout ‘hope that eon contro der wut fear. The ie at abr e ‘hoagh ase years ssl in my hands and my ees Whether ave sled i, Tow not. Bo fng sits there i wise its own way {ut edles of the wl ha win me™ ‘The new kind of mering which was horn in 1914 and has persisted in Weosern Europe unt the preset day isan inverted sutcring, Men fought within themsekes bout the meaning of evens, idensiy, hope “Thiswasthe negative posiifiyimpicit in the new relation ofthe et ‘he world The life they experienced became a chaos wihin them, They ‘became lost within themes. Instead of apprehending (in however simple and direct away) she procewes which were rendering thet own destinies identical with the ‘rls, they submited to dhe new condition pasively. Thats omy he ‘orld, which was nevertheless indiisbly part of them, reverted Oar ‘mind obeing ibe old world which was separate from them and opponed ‘hem: it wat Uhough they Ma been forced to devour God, een and ‘ell and ve forever with the ragmentsnsie themselves Itwasindeed anew and terrible form of stern and it coincided wih the wide- Spread, delierate us of fase ideological propaganda asa weapon, Such ‘propaganda preserve win people oidated structure of feling and {inking wilt forcing new experiences upon them. Ic tnsorms thea into puppets whist most ofthe sain brought about bythe wansfor ‘mation romaine poltaly harmlea a inevitably ina ration ‘The only purpase of such propaganda iso make people deny and then abandon th setves which otherwise ther own expericice would erate La Jolie Rous’, Apoliaire's at long poetn (he ded in 1918), his vison ofthe fue, afte his experience ofthe war,has become a ource ‘of suffering as mach of hope Haw ean he conc what he has seen ‘ch what he once forenan? Brom now on there can be no unpolicl prophecies We are not your ens We want to tke yer var sage testes Were te fowerng nny watt be picked ‘Where dire are fies and colours never ye sce ‘A tous imponderable apparions Which most be gen realy ‘We wih to explore the vast domain of goodnest where een alent ‘And time can be pursed or brought back Ply who fight Continually othe ners (OF the infite anethefosare ly for our mise py for our sin. “The violence of mmmer is here My youth ike dhe ping ix dead ‘Now, O sua, the ine of sorching Reason Laugh then inagh me ‘Men fom everywhere sl sore partially here For there ae #» many thing dare ttl you ‘So many things you wl not let we sy Have pty on te ‘We can aon begin tounderstand the centralparadexofCubisma Thespiit ‘of Cabs was objective. Hence is ea and ts comparative anonym ‘etyeen arts. Hence alo che accuracy ots tehaical prophecies Live ina mtelite ciythathasbeen built uring helt ive years The character {tthe pattern ofwhatLnow see oat he window as ite can be traced ‘iret hack to dhe Cui pcre of 1911 ane 1912 Ye the Gabi pt seems to us day wo be curiously distant and disengaged. “This is becase the Cobia oakno aconnt of pols at we hav since cspoienal the In common wilh even their experienced politcal cox {emporares, Ue did not imagine and did aot foresee the cent, depth and duration ofthe sufering which would be involved in the politcal sirugye to rele what had so clearly become possble and what has ‘noe become imperative. “The Gubits imagined the world wanaformed, bu not the proces of ‘eansformation. Cubism changed the natwe of the relationship beoreen the painted image and realy, and by so doing it expresed a new relationship Dbensen man ad reality. “Many writers have posited out that Cubism marked a beak i the history of art comparable to that of the Renaisance i relation to medical art That snot to say that Cubism can be equated withthe Renaluance. The confidence ofthe Renasance ated for about sny ers (appecsimatey rom 1420 to 1480); dat of Cais lasted for about fix year. However, the Renaisance remains a point of departite for appreciating Cuban. » Inthe early Renaissance dhe alm of at was wo tite nature, Albert Sormulated this ie "The function of the painter ito rendet wits ies and colours, on a given panel or wall dhe vise mace of any boy, 30 that ata cern distance an from certain posta appears in rei ad jst ihe he body tele" Teas not, of course, a8 imple a that There were dhe mathematical problems of near perspective which Alber himself solved There was {he quealon of choice ~ dati to say the question of the att doing Justice w nature by choosing to represent what was pil of nature at her best "Yee the artn’s relation to naire was comparable 10 hat of the scientist Tike the sient, the arti applied Feaon and method 10 the study ofthe world. He observed and ordered his Gndings. The parallel ofthe wo dcipinersinter demonstrated y the example of Leonard, ‘Although often employed far Less accurately duving the following ‘entra, the metaphorical model for the fnction of painting at tit time was ie ror. Albert cles Nereus when he see himself elected Jn the water asthe fst painter. The minor tender the appearances of ‘ature and siultaneotsly delves them into the Bands of maa, tis exremely hard toseconaract the anes of the past height ‘of more recent developments and the quesons raed by them, we ten tw ton out the ambiguities which may have existed belore the questions were formed. In the eary Renaissance for example, the humanist yew fad a medieval Chistian view could sil be exly combined. Man ‘became the equal of God, but both retained ther traiional postions Arnold Hauser writes ofthe early Remsance "The seat of Goa wi he ‘cent round which the heavenly spheres revolved, he earth was the feenire of the material universe, and man hhimsel 3 selfcomtained ‘microcosm round which, sit were, revved che whole of nature, jst 45 the celestial bodies revolved round tha fixed sar, the earch.” ‘Thus man could observe natre azound lim on every Ride and Be ‘enhanced oth by what be observed andy ison aby to abserve. He ‘hud no need wo comider that he was ewentaly part ofthat nature. Men ‘a th forhich relly hd er made vial he deal eye, the eye ofthe viewing point of Renaisace perspective. The human greatnes of is ‘oe yi italy to reflect and conte, Hke a aon, what as "The Copernican revolution, Protewansm, the Counter Refrain desoyed the Renaissance pestion. With this destruction meter sb- Jeet was horn. The at beoomes primarily concemed wi ration, is om genius takes the place of nature adhe marvel isthe gto ls seit, ie "piri his grace’ which makes hima godlike. At the same lime the equity between man and god ie tally destoped. Mbatry ‘entersartip emphasize de inequaiy. Aceon afer Abertsclan hat e artand cience are parallel acts, Michelangelo speals—no longer of lnlating naire ~ but of uaading Chis Tn order to itt in some degree the vencrable mage of Ont Lord tinnot enough tobea painter, ‘agrestand shilfi mater 1 believe hat one ust farther be of ames Bf, even if pouible sant, hat the Holy Sprit may inspire one's unde = Tewonld take 0 fr fom ous Bald even to atlempe 10 erace the history of ar from Michelangelo onwards ~ Manners, de Baroque, seventcenth- a eighteentveentary clausicam. What is elewant © 00" ‘porpose is that, fom Michelangelo und the French Revlon, the Ieuplorical model forthe function of panting becomes the dae tags tana sem unlikely tha the same mode works fora vsonary ke Fl Greco, Stic ke Poussin (ho actly worked fom stage model he ‘ast melt) ad siddleclass morals ike Chardin. Yell the ats ‘of thee two centuries shared certain assumptions. For them all the power oar layin aif Tha to my tne were concemned with omsructing compreinsive examples of some uth such 25 could ot ‘Demet within such un esa, pointed, sulime or meaningful way ka ite ict, Puinng became a schematic athe painter's ask was no longer to eprewent or imitate what exsed: it was to simmarve experience. [Nature snow what man has o redeem Mimacrom The art becomes responsible ot mpfr the means of conveying tru, but aso for the truth el. Pang ceases wo be a branch of natural sence and ‘becomes brane of the moral scences Inthe theatre the spectator faces evens rom whowe consequences he ‘i immune; he may be affected ezotionally and morally bat he physically removed, prouseed, separate rom what is happening before Fiseyex Whats happening artical Iti kewho now represents ature notte work of art And i athe same time, is rom himself tha he rst redeem himself, ds represen the contradiction of the Cartesian ‘Uo which prophetcally or aetaly 0 dominated thee wo centr Ronen, Kant and the French Revolution or rather, all the deelopmnents which ly behind the thought of the pilonopaers ad ‘he actions of the Rewhiion~ made rapenble o fo on balling in ‘constructed onder against natural cage. The metaplorial mode! ‘angel again and ence more it applies over a long period despite ‘rama changes of ple, The new model i that ofthe ronal cont [Nature no longer confirm or enliances the att as he investigates Nori he any longer concerned with creating “aria” examples, fr {thew depend upon the common recognition of certain moral values. He is now alone, sorounded by sate, irom which his own experience separates hin ae Nature i what he sees hugh hie experience. There i has i all nineteentcentury art = from the ‘pat falay of the Romantics the optics of the Impresionists~ considerable confusion about where the arti’ experience ops and nature begins The at's peronal aczount ishisauemptto make hisexpesience areal asnatue, Which he fan never reach, by communicating it to others. The considerable ‘uring of mos ninezendveentuy arse arese out of thir cont icdon: because they were alienated from nature, Gey needed [resent thence as nature to others ‘Speech, ase recounting af experience and the means af making t veal, preoccupied the Romanscs Hence thelr consant companions ‘erven paintings and pocty. Gece wow aft ofthe Medes was the Bet painting of 2 contemporary erent consiouly based on Se Wimnessaccount wrote in 1821 How should ike w be abe to show our ‘everest painters several ports, which are uch lose resemblances o ‘ature, whoa cary pose esa nothing ta be desired, ad of which one an really sy Dat ll dhe lack is the power of speech." 1 1850 Delacroix wrote: hae tld myself a hundred es that painng= chats nay the material ehing called panting was D0 more ‘han the prctexthe bridge beewcen the mind ofthe painter and Wat of the spectator." Tor Corot experience wat fr es lamboyant ad more modes sir than for the Romantics But newrthelest he sil emphasized how ‘esental the personal and the lave are to art. In 1836 be wate: "Reals one part of ae feling completes. . before any site and any Zola, who was one of theft defender ofthe Impressonbs, defined ‘work ofart at's comer of nature sen through temperament. The ‘efiiion apples othe whole ofthe nineteenth century and is another ‘may of describing the sume mewphoriel model ‘Monet was the mos theoretial ofthe Impressionists and the most ‘aiousto bea rough the cenany’s bree of sje. For him (a lest eocetialy) the role of his tenperament was reduced to that a the proces of perception, He speals of ‘cose fasion with nature. But the rsa ofthis fasion, however harmonions, isa sense of powerlessness ‘which suggests that, bereft of his subject he has nothing to putin tus place. Nature is no longer a Beld for suuly, It has become an, ‘overwhelining fore. One vay oF another the cnlroniation been the artist and ature in the nineteenth century isan unequal one, Fther the heatt of man or te grandeur of nate dominates Monet wrote: ‘ase pint fr ala cenmiry, ad wl soon have pase my sey ‘lat ye, bu, on decreasing) sensty has sharpened th a se Aslong constant conte: with the onside word an itn de ardour of my curiosity, and ny hand remains the ick nd Eth servant of my perception, Ihave nothing toes fromm oid age The 10 other wish tan a clone ison with tre and dese no oer fe than (according to Goethe) to have worked and led in haemony ‘eth her rules, Beside her grandeur, her power and er insmorali, (he inmancreamre seme ut» erable some Fam well aware of dhe schematic nature of this brief survey. fs not Delacroix in some senses a wansiona Sure between tae ightecnth ‘nd nineteenth centric? And wat not Raphael another onal igure who confounds such sippe categories? The scheme, howeney tue enough to help us appreciate the nature of the change which Cubism represented, ‘The metaphorical model of Cubism isthe digg the diagram being ‘iil, ymbole representation afte proceses, lores nica A gram need aoteschew certain aspesrof appearance bento ‘ye rated boli a signs nota ination or recreations ‘The model of the digpum difers Rom that othe marr fa hat ‘uggetsa concern wth whatis not aetendent fedfers rom the mode ‘ofthe tea stgrin that it doesnot have to concentrate pen clmases 2s can reveal the continuous. Ie difere fom the mode of the pent ‘ascunt in that ile ata general truth, ‘The Renaisince aris mated nagire, The Mannerist and Classe ‘rs reconstructed examples fom nate in creo transcend hata, ‘The nineeendy century att experienced nature, The Cais reall {hat his avareness of mature was part of nate icienberg speaks asa modem physic. Natoral science does not simply describe and explain nature; ix part ofthe intesplay betwee ‘ature and owsches: it describes nance as exposed wo ou meio of _qvetioning."*Similaly, te fomtal cing ofnative became inadequate How did the Cubist expres thir inition ofthe new relation exsing between man and narute? 1 By thei use of space, Gubism broke the thuonist dre dimensional gpace which had existed in painting snes the Renaissance. ed not destroy ie Nor did tone 4 ~ as Gauguin and the Pontaven school had done, It broke is

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