Art By ralph waldo Emerson By Sarah, Cara, and Allison

The Poem “The past restore, the day adorn, And make each morrow a new morn” (1). This is only one quote from the poem but it sort of sums up the meaning of it. Emerson is trying to get the idea across that artists draw on the ideas used in the past to make something new. Inspiration can come from the past, things that have already been made. Another quote from the poem that gets a similar idea across; “And live on even terms with time” (1). This goes hand in hand with the other quote. This is implying that one shouldn’t scorn or dismiss an idea just because it has already been used. Use it again but out you own style and spin on the idea.

“Thus in our fine arts, not imitation, but creation is the aim” (1). Page 1 “Thus in our fine arts, not imitation, but creation is the aim” (1). To use a piece of work from the past can be beneficial but at the same time imitating the piece is not being unique. The point of inspiration is to create something new based on the old. Emerson seems to believe that being unique is important and just imitating some one else is pointless.

“Thus the new in art is always formed out of the old” (2). Page 2 “Thus the new in art is always formed out of the old” (2). Emerson does repeat himself a lot in the first few pages, he beats the idea over and over in to the readers head that you can make something that already has been made before. The concept or the inspiration can be the same as used in past works of art but every time you use an old idea a new spin can be put on it to keep it unique.

Page 3 “The power depends on the depth of the artist’s insight of that object he contemplates” (3). Artists see objects in a different light than other people might. Emerson believes we use the objects we see around us daily as inspiration but they don’t mean anything to us unless we give them power or meaning.

“Then my eye is opened to the eternal picture which nature paints in the street with moving men and children, beggars, and fine ladies…” (3).

Page 4 “The traveler who visits the Vatican, and passes from chamber to chamber through galleries of statues, vases, sarcophagi, and candelabra……These were his inspirations, and these are the effects he carries home to your heart and mind” (4). Here Emerson is talking about using what you see around you as inspiration. Taking a trip to the Vatican, which I will show pictures of in a second, can be used as inspiration. The images you see will be carried around with you until you translate them into your own piece of art.

This here is part of St. Peter’s Basilica This here is part of St. Peter’s Basilica. It the outside view of the Sistine chapel. A church is pure and meaningful exactly what is comfortable to Emerson.

Some beautiful Vases and Statues from Vatican City Emerson uses the Vatican at as example because the pieces in the Vatican are pure and morally sound. The people who made these works made them for a purpose that is what Emerson seems to prefer, is that all art should have a meaning.

Page 5 “I found that genius left to novices the gay and fantastic and ostentatious, and itself pierced directly to the simple and true; that it was familiar and sincere; it was the old, eternal fact I had already met in so many forms” (5). Emerson is trying to say that sometimes a more simple piece speaks more than a busy piece. Novices are so excited to be doing a piece of art and are so eager to please that they make it stand out and arrogant. Sometimes when a piece is too busy it just gets confusing, but that is all open to different interpretation. Pieces that seem more comfortable are things you are usual too, new things are uncomfortable and occasionally takes actual thought to figure out. Simplicity is touching and beautiful is what Emerson is trying to say.

Pages 5 “Art should exhilarate, and throw down the walls of circumstance on every side, awakening in the beholder the same sense of universal relation” (6).

The Transfiguration by Raphael Emerson says this picture is beautiful and yet simple, he sees this as calling his name and it goes directly to his heart. Emerson chose this picture to prove his point about art. That art which is simple means the most to people. The meaning in the picture is clearer when their isn't as much going on. Emerson believes art should be familiar and comfortable and to him this picture is all that.

Page 6 “But the gallery stands at the mercy of our moods, and there is a moment when it becomes frivolous” (6). Emerson believes that art work is very open to interpretation. Different people have different perspectives. What one person sees as beautiful say a sculpture made out of trash, someone else may see as just plain trash. Depending on a persons mood, if they were to go to the gallery in an angry mood then instead of a piece seeming peaceful it may seem angry and harsh.

“In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful” (7). Page 7 “In nature, all is useful, all is beautiful” (7). In closing Emerson states his main conclusion that all art is useful and beautiful and that art is found all around us, in the past, and around the world. Anything and everything can be used as inspiration.