ABSTRACT
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel’s dismal prophecy that, in a scientific age, art would become and remain forever a thing of the past has haunted the imagination of historians, critics and sociologists ever since it was made. In the saying that the whole man and nothing but the whole man is good enough for producing a good work of art, surely the implication is: all the innate gifts in their true proportions. The true meaning of the so-called “gratuitous act” is perfectly understood by scientists and artists alike. The view that art which probes into those reaches could be “out of touch with the central energies of life” seems more typical of l’homme moyen sensuel than of the average spiritual man. Audiences tend to specialize, but by and large it can be said that the arts today, all the arts, draw on this one committed audience.
