ABSTRACT
All the great periods of lofty artistic production relied on an extremely dogmatic criticism, a criticism whose strength of conviction came of the consciousness of cultivated society, which backed it up. The critic spoke in the name of that society; it provided the reasons for applauding or hissing, even though the dictates of a spontaneous good taste would have been enough. All the great periods of lofty artistic production relied on an extremely dogmatic criticism, a criticism whose strength of conviction came of the consciousness of cultivated society, which backed it up. In the summer of 1901 Andre Gide wrote “The Limits of Art,” which he was to give as a lecture in connection with the Independent Artists’ Show of that year. He appropriately dedicated the published essay to his close friend Maurice Denis, a painter of the neo-impressionists school. The invitation to Gide had been instigated by Count Harry von Kessler, the German diplomat and essayist.
