In this story, I see Poe making a statement concerning the power of the artist. Whether the artist is a writer or a painter. The power of words seemed to be the theme of the last stories that we read. He used newspapers as proof to make hisstories believable, yet he was showing the editors the power they held and their obligation to the public. I think Poe is linking the power of creative artists together. The power of the painter to convey the essence of a subject would go along with this story. The picture holds the same power as words and is no less important. Poe believed that the artist has obligations to the audience that is involved with the medium. In this story it was the power of the artist to literally paint the life from his bride in to the portrait. "And he would not see that the tints which he spread upon the canvas were drawn from the cheeks of her who sate beside him" (483). The artist was unwilling to see what he was truly creating. He did not know the power that he held. Without regard to the effect he would have on others with his work, he worked for his own satisfaction. Is Poe saying something about art for the sake of art? Once he had completed the portrait, he realized the power he held as a painter, artist; which was evident when he cried.."This is indeed Life itself!" (484) when he gazed upon his own work. He saw that he not only created for himself, but that his art transcended into therealm of reality. It became a living entity, separate from the artist, the creator. The subject of the art becomes immortalized through the art, not theart through the subject.
April 2, 2008 4:55 PM
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2 comments:
Raquel,
I like the idea of "art for the sake of art" in this story. I think it works because the artist was creating the art for himself; it didn't seem like he was creating for the marketplace. If you're creating art for the marketplace, it can't be all about you and just for the sake of art, it has to appeal to everybody else.
While the painting caught the eye of the narrator, it was because of how life-like it was, which doesn't seem like a selling point for a piece of art. Maybe there's something in here about art for the marketplace and art for the artist/art for the sake of art.
I like what is being said about the power of art. We can all assume that Poe wanted to do this to show how powerful art can be, not matter what kind. In the book I read for my review, in one chapter it was saying how writing and the arts was not to be considered as a full time job, it was more of a past time, so maybe this was his way of showing how he would view it as a full time job all the time not matter what other thought. I was however, thrown off by the fact that this portrait was accompanied by a blurb in a "volume." Starting on page 483 the written description is there to explain the portrait. Why didn't Poe just have the narrator describe it or have another person tell the story of what happened?
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