Topic > The Benefit of Art in The Picture of Dorian Gray by…

Arguing that a flower is equally useless, as it blooms for its own joy. All we get from it is nothing but a moment of joy to witness its blossoming. Wilde holds the belief that art is useless because art itself has no purpose other than to be beautiful. Furthermore, any value we give it is due to an “improper use” of the art. Wilde's idea that the only purpose of art is to be beautiful, and therefore it is useless, may be true, but this concerns selected works of art. This requires, however, that the artist and the viewer are in rare agreement that the created work of art is only meant to be beautiful, because if one party were to disagree then the art would gain value. If the artist creates the work to have a meaning other than beauty, then it is useful. If the viewer sees meaning in a work that was only meant to be beautiful, then it is useful, but this is what Wilde calls the "abuse" of art. However, there cannot be any improper use of the work of art. Because once the artwork is distributed to the masses, it no longer belongs to the artist, philosophically speaking, of course, since the artist still retains physical ownership rights. The nature of art is open to interpretation, hence the phrase "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." This means that viewers will interpret the art in their own unique way and it is no longer the artist's idea. The idea of ​​the artist and that of the spectators may in fact align, but everyone will still be themselves