GRIFF, Mason. Alienation and the Artist

8/20/2019 GRIFF, Mason. Alienation and the Artist

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.

a

rts

t s

octe

ty

th

e h

und

reds

on

e m

ay

cit

e -fr

om

th

e li

te ra

ry

field

to

ill

ust

rate

a

sim

ilar

des

ire

for

in c

orpo

rat

ion

into

so

ciet

y .

In

th

e pa

s t,

artis

ts d

id

no

t fee

l a

lien

:

they

fel

t th

a t t

hey

we

re

par

t of

so

ciety

an

d w

ere

pu

rsu

ing

an

occ

upa

tion

de

fine

d a

s le

giti

m ate

by

the other m em bers

of

their society. What, th en, caus

ed

the

ris

e o

f th

e fe

elin

g o

f al

iena

tion

? A

nd

are

the

re s

ign

s po

in t

ing

to r

e

in c

orp

orat

ion

of t

he

artis

t in

to h

is s

ocie

ty?

I

T

he

gen

era

l ca

use

s fo

r a

lien

ati

on

are

d i

fficu

lt t

o d

ete r

m in

e.

Som

e,

like

Em

ile

D u

rkh

eim

, b

elie

ve

tha

t as

soc

iety

bec

om

es

m or

e

c

om

plex

, th

e d

ivis

ion

o f

labo

r sp

eci

alize

s m

en

to s

uch

a d

egr

ee

that

they cease to know where they fit in to th eir soc iety.

9

And we do k now

th

at a

lien

atio

n ta

kes

p

lace

w he

n a

g ro

up

no

lon

ger

sha

res

the

sam

e

valu

es

and

tr a

diti

ons

w i

th o

the

r m

em b

ers

of

its

soc i

ety-

th

a t i

nte r

a

ctio

n fu

nd

am e

nta

l to

un

der

stan

din

g a

nd

to

acc

epta

ble

soc

ial b

e

ha

vio

r ce

ase

s; w

ith

th

e br

eak

dow

n

in c

om

mun

ica

tion

s, b

itte

r m

is

und

ers

tan

ding

s m

ay

ari

se,

a

nd cr

eate

a

cris

is l

ead

ing

to

eve

ntu

al

alie

nati

on

for

th e

dif

feri

ng g

ro u

p.

f

th

is

isol

atio

n is

sev

ere

o r

p ro

l

ong

ed ,

the

gro

up

con

stru

cts

a n

ew

set

of

insti

tuti

ons

and

a

new

or

bo

rro

wed

ph

ilos

oph

y o

f li

fe;

the

end

res

ult

of

this

p ro

ces

s is

a su

b

culture lo cate d beyond the periphery of the e stablished social or

der.

10

W

he

re

alie

nat

ion

con

tinu

es f

or

a ce

ntur

y a

nd

a ha

lf ,

as h

as b

een

t e

c

ase

for

the

ar

tist

, th

ese

new

in

stit

utio

ns

bec

ome

fo

rm a

lize

d

into

b

oth t

he a

cce

pted

pa

t ter

n o

f lif

e fo

r th

e al

iena

ted

and

al

so t

he s

tere

o

typ

ed

conc

ept

ion

o f

the

m by

t

he n

on

alie

nate

d m

em

ber

s o f

th

e so

c

iety

. O

ne p

rec

ipit

atin

g f

acto

r he

ld

resp

ons

ible

fo r

th

e be

g in

n in

g of

th

e a

lie n

atio

n o

f th

e ar

tist

and

hi

s es

tabl

ishm

en

t o f

a u

niq

ue c

ult

ure

ha

s be

en t

he

Fren

ch

Rev

olu

tion

.

A

re

volu

ti o

n , f

rom

th

e p e

rsp

ectiv

e o

f th

e s

ocio

log

ist,

is a

com

p le

te c

han

ge i

n th

e s

ocia

l o r

der.

N

o re

volu

tion

, h

owe

ver

, co

m pl

etel

y

c

han

ges

a

soci

ety,

w h

ich

us

uall

y re

tain

s t

he

fam

ily

the

ec

ono

mic

0

E

mile

D ur

khei

m ,

The i

visio

n of

Lab

m· i

n So

ciety

. Glen

coe,

I l

l.

,

T

he Fre

e .P

ress ,

19

47 . )

°

Fo r an excell ent descriptio n an d analysis of a subculture, se e: Al bert Cohen ,

The

D e

linqu

ent

Sub

Cultu

t·e. ('G

lenco

e, I

ll . :

The

F re e

Pres

s , 19

5 5 .)


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ali ena

ti on

and

at·tist

religio

us , an

d e

duca t

ional

inst it

ut ion

s , as

w ell

as most

o

f the

cu l

tu

ral a

rtifac

ts suc

h as

lang u

age ,

dress,

folk

ways ,

and

the a

rts , a

nd

sim

ply a

l ters

them

to co

incide

with

the n

ew v

alue o

rient

at ion

arisin

g

from

the

revolu

tion:

for e

xam p

le, alth

ough

afte

r the

Russi

an Re

volu

tion t

he fam

ily w

as ch

ange

d and

m any

o

f it

s fun c

tions

taken

away

, a s

an

insti

tution

it re

maine

d in

its ess

entia

l form

.

W

ith

the

Fren

ch R

evo lu

tion ,

an o

l so

cial o

rder

died

a n d

a

n ew o

ne r

eplac

ed it

; on e

institu

tion

n o t r

e ta in e

d w a

s the pa

trona

ge

sy

s te m

whic

h

h

ad

pre

v ious

ly sup

ported

m

ost

o

f

the

artis ts.

11

Th

e

de

mise

of the

patro

nage

s

ys

te

m im

pover

ished

a la r

ge bo

dy

o

f

artis

ts

and

cast t

hem

econo

mic al

ly a

drift-

a cris

is w h

ich so

me h

ave h

eld to

be di

rectly

respo

nsibl

e for

the a

lienat

ion o

f the

artist

.

Othe

r p

olitic

al up

heava

ls ha

ve not h

ad

this

effec

t. Fo

llow i

ng

the revolutions

in

M exico and Russia , artis

ts w e

re g i

ven s

pecifi

c

ro les

to per

form

and

w ere

supp

orted

by th

e stat

e:

l:

in

M ex

ico, a

rtists

w

ere

comm

ission

ed to

pa

int m u

rals ;

an ae

stheti

cian

natur

a l ly s

ym

pat

het ic

to a

rtists ,

Jo se

V asc

oncel

os, w

as m

ade m

inist

er o f

educ

a

tion

;

13

and

ie

go R

ivera

w as

appo

inted

direc

tor of

the

San

Carlo

s

Acad

emy of F

ine

A r

ts .

14

R

ivera

's p

opular

ity as

the

peop

le 's a

rt ist

.

w

as so

grea

t , in

fact, t

hat t

he p r

esid en

t of

M exic

o off

ered

to cre

ate

a

cabin

et post

for

him ;

16

and

both

h is

direc t

orship

o

f th

e A

cadem

y

and

the s

erious

cons

idera

tion of

him

as a

cabin

et m

em ber

re fle

ct t

he

gener

a l

in

c

orpo

ration

of th

e art

ist in

to M e

xican

so cie

ty.

But

the

re l

ation

ship of

the

artis

t to

his

own so

ciety

afte r

the

F

rench

R evo

lut io

n w as

qu it

e dif f

erent,

and s

ince t

he ce

nter of

p

aint

ing

and

m ost

of th

e othe

r ar

ts

h

ad

by

tha t t

im e s

hifte

d from

Ita

ly

to F

rance

,

16

the

expe

rienc

es of

Frenc

h arti

sts ha

d gre

ater s

ignifi

cance

for art

and

artis

ts than

h

ad

rev

olutio

ns

in o the

r cou

ntries

a t ot

her

tim

e

s

.

11

D av

id L

Dow

d, P age

ant- M a

st

er

o

f th e R

epu

b

li

c, T h

e Uni

vers i ty

of

Nebr

aska

Studi

es, Jun

e, 1

9 48. New

Series

N o. 3

. This

d escri

bes the

revol u

t ion a

s it p e

rta

in

s

to a

rt

i

sts, esp

ecia lly

the v

arious

atte

mp ts to

s

ubs

t

it u t

e state

su

p

po

rt f o r

th e fo r

m e r

s

ystem

of p a tr

onage.

Al so,

it

de ta

il s th e

p ar

t

p

l ay

ed in th e

r evo lu

tio n by

J

ac

q u

es

L o

u is D a

v id .

W o lfe,

op . ci

t ., p

p. 128-

130.

·

1

3

Ib

id., p p.

147-

15 6 and p

. 2

82.

14

Ibid.,

p . 282 .

15

b

id

.

p.

28

2.

16

A rno

ld H a u

se r,

he S oc i

al Hist

ot y

of A 1t N

ew

Y o

rk: V i

n tage B

ooks,

Inc.

1958

) ,

V ol. 3 ,

p.

159 .

45


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alienation and at tist

tron, therefore, the artist was frequently tempted to compromise,

thereby restricting his creativity to the acknowledged tastes of the

patron. Where patronage predominated as the major system of sup

port, the situation became aggravated by the competition among

artists, since an artist had to restrict himself

not

only to cater to his

patron s tastes, but also to insure that other artists w o u ~ not usurp

the patron s support. Under these circumstances free aesthetic expres

sion became the exception rather than the rule; and the group, taken

collectively, reflected an effort

to

flatter the vanity of patrons.

After the collapse of the French monarchy and throughout most

of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, artists were faced with

different problems, since their major support came .from a different

group, the middle classes. Most of the latter neither understood nor

sympathized with the artists, since bourgeois life and values were

radically different from those of the artists. The bourgeois were men

of commerce who had attained their eminence through a competitive

system based largely on laissez faire; the outgrowth of this system

was a psychological orientation which viewed all forms of human

action instrumentally, with objects, things, and persons becoming

utilitarian in nature. Dealing in all matters from this perspective

habituates people to perceive iti terms of categories instead of per

sonal attributes, for to allow sentiment or personal qualities to con

trol one s relationships in a highly competitive system is tantamount

to financial suicide. Realism and its counterparts, utilitarianism and

practicality, become basic norms affecting

not

only business rela

tionships but personal ones

as

well. As time and new experiences

confirm the wisdom of acting on the basis of these norms, other in

dividuals of society acquire a comparable orientation and thereby

legitimize these beliefs in self-perpetuating cycles.

22

Flowing from and adding to the basic antagonism between

bourgeois and artist was the fact that their meeting

had

to be face

to-face, since art d e l ~ r s and art galleries had not yet made their ap

pearance as accepted institutional forms through which one bought

and sold paintings. Since the salons were controlled

by

entrenched

academicians, anyone not a part of the favorite coterie had no means

for the sale of his paintings;

23

this meant, in effect, that there was

;

Parsons, op. ctt.,

pp.

503-516.

3

Hauser, op. cit., Vol. 3, p. 159,

or

D owd, op. cit.,

pp. 27 34.

Even

when

and where

they make their appearances they must cater to

the

tastes

of their

clients

or

lose

their

business. ·

7


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a

rts in

soci

ety

5

ver

tisem

ents of

the

C on

taine

r C o

rpora

tion of

A m

erica

, the

W

est

V irg

in ia

Pulp

a

nd

Paper

C

om p

any, t

he o

hn H a

ncoc

k Life

In su

rance

C

om pa

ny.

Supp lem enting these trends was the developm ent of ideas li ke

t

hose

of th

e B a

uhau

s in

G erm

any,

whic

h ins

titute

d a d

elibe

rate

m

ovem

ent to

coun

ter th

e be

lief

that th

e art i

s t sh

ou ld

be ou

tside

of

his

socie

ty wit

h the

c onv

iction

th

at

an a

rtis t s

legit

im ate

func

tion

i s

to co

ntrib

ute to

t he

aesth

etic

natu

re of

t

he in

dus tri

al w o r l

d

The

effect

o

f th

is con

vic tio

n i

n

s

om e

quarte

rs wa

s to c

onvin

ce co

rpora

tion

m a

nage

rs th

at go

od de

sign

for p

roduc

ts w

as as

im po

rtan t

as

i-

cien

cy te

chniq

ues.

Th

ere m

ay i

ndeed

still

b e a

gr

eat dea

l o

f oppo

sition

to th

e

artist, even fro m w i th in those groups w h

ich ar

tists m

ost n

eed

to sus

tain

deter

m inat

ion a

nd c

reativ

ity

-

fami

lies a

nd f

rie nds

. B u

t the

p

ositiv

e tren

ds a r

e non

ethel

ess th

ere,

as we

have

seen

.

3

F or

an ela

bor ate

statem e

nt of t

his mo

vemen

t, see :

Lasz lo

M ohol

oy-N ag

y. T

he New

Vision. Translated by D aphne M . H o

man. New Y ork: W ittenborn and Co. ,

19 4 6 .)

40

M as

on G ri

ff . T

he R ec ru

itment

o

f

the

rt S

tudent

195 U

npubl

i shed m

anusc

ri pt.

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GRIFF, Mason. Alienation and the Artist

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