The Expressionist Theory Collingwood z From R G

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood z From R. G. Collingwood. The Principles of Art. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1938. y. Biographical notes x. Robin George Collingwood - English, 1889 -1943 x. Professor at Oxford, 1935 -1941 Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 1

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood z Art is the expression of emotions. y. Anticipations of this theory may be found in Benedetto Croce (Italian, 18661952). y. Clarifications of the above formula x. Art is about the realm of emotions x. Expression is a process • Moves from the hidden, vague to the explicit & clear (112) Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 2

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • It is a process of exploring emotions. The artist does not know the outcome beforehand. å Cf. crafts • Expression in art is not directed in a calculating, deliberate way at arousing emotions (113). å Cf. politician, advertiser Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 3

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • Expression in art is not directed in a calculating, deliberate way at arousing emotions (113). å Cf. The politician & advertiser know beforehand what emotion they are attempting to evoke. • Is there a specific aesthetic emotion (à la Clive Bell)? No - such a position assumes that the artist knows the emotion before creating the work of Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 4 art.

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • The process of creating a work of art also moves from a sense of “oppression” to “alleviation or easment” (116). å This is the only sense in which there is an aesthetic emotion. å And this is not a specific emotion Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 5

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • Expressing emotions is not “betraying emotions” (116 -117) å The sense of betraying here -displaying emotions (Mick Nolte in Woody Allen’s New York Stories) Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 6

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood x. How does the audience fit into this theory? • The audience should imaginatively re -experience the emotion of the artist. å Cf. Collingwood’s philosophy of history å The sameness issue. Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 7

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood x. Where is the work of art? (The 3 rd side of the experience of art. ) • The work of art “proper” is in the mind of the artist, “a creation of his imagination” (305). • The art object is not the work of art proper, but a necessary accessory to art proper (305). Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 8

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood z Critique of Collingwood’s theory of art y. Weaknesses x. The theory fails to take account of the vast numbers of works of art that were created on commission, under duress, or as production. Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 9

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood x. Historically, much of art was produced not by individuals to express personal emotions, but by an assemblage of artists. How can an assemblage (e. g. , workshop) express emotions? Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 10

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood x. The sameness problem y. Strengths x. Corresponds closely to the intuitions of many contemporary artists • Van Gogh in a letter to Theo, 8 September 1888: “I have tried [in The Night Café] to express the terrible passions of humanity by mean of red and green. ” Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 11

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • In another letter to Theo ca. September 1888: “In my picture of the Night Café, I have tried to express the idea that the café is a place where one can ruin oneself, go mad or commit a crime. So I have tried to express, as it were, the powers of darkness in a low public house, by soft Louis XV green and malachite, contrasting with yellow-greens, and all this in an atmosphere like a devil’s furnace, of pale sulphur. And all this with an appearance of Japanese gaiety, and the good nature of Tartarin. ” Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 12

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • Henri Matisse (“Exactitude is Not Truth, ” 1947, from Henri Matisse, Retrospective of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture Organized in Collaboration with the Artist (Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition catalogue, 3 April - 9 May, 1948): 33 -34. ): “These drawings seem to be to sum up observations that I have been making for many years on the characteristics of a drawing, characteristics that do not depend on the exact copying of natural forms, nor on the patient assembling of exact details, but on the profound feeling of the artist before the objects which he has chosen, on which his attention is focused, and the spirit of which he has penetrated. ” Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 13

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • Robert Motherwell: “The emergence of abstract art is one sign that there are still men able to assert feeling in the world. Men who know how to respect and follow their feelings, no matter how irrational or absurd they may first appear. ” x(All the above quotes are from Herschel Chipp, ed. Theories of Modern Art: A Source Book by Artists and Critics. Berkeley: U of California P, 1968. ) Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 14

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood Art x. The Expressionist theory neatly sets off art from science Science - expression of emotions - explanation of the natural world - concerned with the inner life of humans - concerned with exterior of the world - the expression of the - concerned with unique, the individual universals, the general Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 15

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood x. The theory is, in some versions comprehensive • Includes a theory about å what art is å the artistic process, the process of creation å the relationship between the artist, the work of art, and the audience Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 16

The Expressionist Theory: Collingwood • Does it include a tacit theory of evaluation? Collingwood's version of the Expressionist Theory - slide 17