We have so far discussed two influential philosophical theories of art that, in addition to having a long-standing tradition in the history of philosophy, are deeply rooted in the public and popular debate about art. As a rule, daily discussions about art are still centered on the aspects of representation and self-expression, despite the turbulent development of modern art in the twentieth century and growing doubts about the usefulness of both these concepts. In modern art, and more specifically in modernism, the role of formal experiment is of overriding importance. One need only think of Cubism, Fauvism and numerous other movements in painting. Technical experimentation also caused a modernistic breakthrough in music, particularly through the work of Arnold Schönberg and his discovery of so-called dodecaphony, or the 12-tone system. Because of its great emphasis on form and technique, modernism is often characterized as formalistic. What should we understand by the term “formalism”? To answer this question, it would be wise to begin by highlighting an essential difference between formalism and the two previous theories. We have seen that, from a very specific point of view, the mimesis and the expression theories, however different they may look at face value, share an essential feature. They both imitate something outside the realm of art itself and consequently they are judged by external or extrinsic standards. While imitation theories compare works of art with a sensorially perceptible reality, expression theories assess them exclusively based on emotional and/or moral criteria, or an original Idea, an original “intuition” or “imagination” in the artist's mind. In both cases, the artwork, and even art in general, is not considered on its own merits, but invariably tested according to extra-artistic, external, extrinsic criteria. In the eyes of a formalist, such criteria completely miss the point when it comes to judging works of art.
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Further Reading
For the quotation by Eco on formalism in the Middle Ages, see:
Umberto Eco, Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages, Yale: in Yale University Press, 2002 (section 4.2).
The classical source on formalism in musical theory is:
Eduard Hanslick, The beautiful in music; a contribution to the revisal of musical aesthetics, translated by Gustave Cohen, New York: Da Capo Press, 1974. German Original: Vom Musikalisch-Schönen. Ein Beitrag zur Revision der Tonkunst, Mainz, New York: Schott, 1990 (Originally published in 1854).
For a more recent edition, see: On the musically beautiful: a contribution towards the revision of the aesthetics of music, translated and edited by Geoffrey Payzant, Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub. Co, 1986.
For detailed commentaries on Hanslick's book:
Geoffrey Payzant, Hanslick on the musically beautiful. Sixteen lectures on the musical aesthetics of Eduard Hanslick, Christchurch, New Zealand: Cybereditions, 2002.
For Hanslick's music criticism, see:
Eduard Hanslick, Hanslick's music criticisms, translated and edited by Henry Pleasants, New York: Dover Publications, 1988.
Geoffrey Payzant, Eduard Hanslick and Ritter Berlioz in Prague: a documentary narrative, Calgary, Alta., Canada: University of Calgary Press, 1991.
Specific works on the defense, criticism and revision of Hanslick's formalism:
Robert W. Hall, ‘On Hanslick's Supposed Formalism in Music’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 25, 1973 (433–6).
Stewart Deas, In defense of Hanslick, Farnborough, Hants: Gregg, 1972.
Nick Zangwill, The metaphysics of beauty, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2001 (a contemporary, moderate defence of Hanslick!).
For the quotations of Susanne Langer on Hanslick's definition of music and formalism in music, see:
Susanne K. Langer, Philosophy in a new key. A study in the symbolism of reason, rite and art Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1976.
For the quotations of respectively Igor Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith and Karl Popper on the impossibility to express by music the composer's feelings:
Igor Stravinsky, An autobiography, London: Calder and Boyars, 1975.
Paul Hindemith, A composer's mind: horizons and limitations, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1952.
Karl Raimund Popper, ‘Two Kinds of Music’, in his: Unended quest, Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1976 (60–68).
Classical sources on formalism in the visual arts:
Clive Bell, Art. The classic manifesto on art, society and aesthetics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987 (Originally published by Chatto & Windus in 1914).
Roger Fry, Vision and design, London, Chatto and Windus, 1957 (Originally published in 1920).
Solomon Fishman, The interpretation of art: essays on John Ruskin, Walter Pater, Clive Bell, Roger Fry and Herbert Read, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1963 (the best work on the development of British art criticism and theory in relation to the visual arts, including an explanation why Bell and Fry rejected the ruling Victorian aesthetics by John Ruskin).
Morris Weitz, ‘Aesthetic Formalism’, in his: Philosophy of the arts, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950. Re-edition in 1964.
Ekman Rosalind, ‘The paradoxes of formalism’, British Journal of Aesthetics Vol. 10, No. 4, 1970 (350–358).
Specific writings on Roger Fry:
Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry: a biography, Oxford: Vintage, 2003 (Originally published by The Hogarth Press in 1940).
Frances Spalding, Roger Fry, art and life, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980.
Jacqueline V. Falkenheim, Roger Fry and the beginnings of formalist art criticism, Ann Arbor, MI: UMI Research Press, 1980.
Christopher Reed (Ed.), A Roger Fry reader, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1996 (Recently published anthology, comprising the whole oeuvre of Roger Fry and also proving that he is still topical!).
Christopher Green, Art made modern: Roger Fry's vision of art, London/ New York, Merell Publishers, 1999. (Also contains texts by Roger Fry.)
Specific writing on Clive Bell:
George Dickie, ‘Clive Bell and the Method of Principia Ethica’, British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1965 (139–143).
R. Meager, ‘ Clive Bell and Aesthetic Emotion’, British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 2, No. 5, 1965 (123–131).
William G. Bywater, Clive Bell's eye, Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1975.
Beryl Lake, ‘Clive Bell's Theory about Works of Art’, in: William Elton (Ed.), Aesthetics and language, Oxford: Blackwell, 1954 (107–111).
On formalism in general and visual art, see:
Richard Wollheim, ‘On Formalism and Pictorial Organisation’, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Critcism, Vol. 59, No. 2-in, 2001 (127–137).
Contributions on art criticism by Hanslick, Bell and Fry:
Eduard Hanslick, Vienna's golden years of music, 1850–1900, Harmondsworth, 1963 (A relevant selection, translated and edited by H. Pleasants). Originally published in 1950.
Clive Bell, Since Cézanne, Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1969 (Originally published by Chatto & Windus in 1922).
Roger Fry, Transformations, London: Chatto and Windus, 1926.
Roger Fry, Last lectures, Boston: Beacon Press, 1962 (Originally published by Simon and Schuster in 1939).
Roger Fry, French, Flemish and British Art, London: Chatto & Windus; New York: Coward McCann, 1951.
For translations of Paul van Ostaijen, see:
Paul Van Ostaijen, Feasts of fear and agony, translated by H. van Ameyden, New York: New Directions, 1976.
Paul Van Ostaijen, The first book of Schmoll and Other Poems, Selected Poems 1920–1928, Amsterdam: Bridges Books, 1982. (With a foreword by E.M. Beekman, introduced by G. Borgers, translated by T. Hermans, J.S. Holmes and P. Nijmeijer. This publication ends with an important essay by Paul van Ostaijen, translated by T. Hermans and P. Vincent. Some of the quotations refer to this edition).
All other quotations refer to the following Dutch-edition anthology:
Paul van Ostaijen, Music-Hall: een programma vol charlestons, grotesken, polonaises en dressu-urnummers van Paul van Ostaijen, Amsterdam: Bert Bakker/Daamen, 1979 (compiled and introduced by Gerrit Borgers).
More information about van Ostaijen can be found in:
Francis Bulhof (ed.), Nijhoff, Va n Ostaijen, De Stijl: modernism in the Netherlands and Belgium in the first quarter of the 20th century: six essays, The Hague: Nijhoff, 1976.
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(2009). Formalism. In: Thinking Art. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5638-3_4
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