Barry Schwartz' New Humanism

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, according to Barry Schwartz in "The New Humanism: Art in a Time of Change", art, which is distinguished not by style but by content, is called "humanistic" because it is concerned more with the plight of man in a technological, aggressive, interrelated society than with experiments in visual acuity or the search for novelty. The author points out that the strong, unifying thread throughout the text is the continual defense of humanist art as legitimate and necessary. The paper suggests that the one criticism of the book, is the "too pat" division of the works into the six categories, which give order to a jumble of works; however, they appear to be arbitrarily created and the works jammed into them a priori.

From the Paper:

"The last section of the book discusses the future of humanism in art, a future that is hampered, Schwartz believes, by society's (i.e., America's) value system which relegates humanist art to a countercultural position. (In Europe, he points out that this kind of art is treated seriously and receives a large degree of acceptance.) The international flavor of humanist art, Schwartz continues, further undermines its acceptance in America primarily because such acceptance "would endanger the privileged position of American art." Schwartz maintains that for a meaningful future for humanist art to exist, it must be available to the masses, as in the case of murals painted in public places and cartoons or drawings in magazines, posters, and comic books."

More papers on Barry Schwartz' New Humanism:

• Book Review # 127457 : "Barry Schwartz's "The Paradox of Choice"
• Analytical Essay # 144279 : "Ways of Knowing: Renaissance Humanism"
• Essay # 89880 : "Existential Humanism in Sartre and Camus"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: