So, I am on this journey - the journey of self-publishing.  My advice about self-publishing is you need money.  It costs a lot to get your book out there.  When picking a publishing company, be sure they are reputable.  IUniverse is awful.  The published my novel, but it is an expensive format.  Make sure the publishing company is able to put your novel in a mass market format.  It will attract more buyers.  It cost me about $3,000.00 to publish and another $2,000.00 for editing.  Here's the thing, you need to know what kind of editing you are buying.  Are they just doing spelling and grammar or are they going to make comments and give contructive criticisms.  IUniverse did not do a good job with my editing.  There were grammar and spelling mistakes.  Of course this is my first novel, so it is a learning experience.  I just hope that this information may help anyone who is interested in self-publishing.

https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Dreams-Black-Falls-Novel/dp/1491798874/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1540242078&sr=1-1&keywords=Kelly+Rose+Saccone


Because she has always been considered different, Wynter Malone does not believe that any man can love and accept her, even though she dreams nightly of the same hot guy. Gifted with psychic abilities to find the missing, she must put her talents to work once again when a little girl is kidnapped in her town of Black Falls. After the sheriff calls her to help, her path becomes intertwined with the victims no-nonsense uncle who wants answers sooner than later. Rafe Wolf has no time for the supernatural world, even though he has the ability to walk into other peoples dreams. He is not looking for love, even after he meets Wynter, the woman who has starred in his dreams for nearly a year. Six months after Wynter finds his niece, Rafe relocates to Black Falls to begin a new chapter. As he and Wynter are drawn into the mysteries of the kidnappings still occurring in their town, they must strive to stop the abductors, overcome their trust issues, and accept their gifts and connection to each otherbefore all else is lost. In this romantic mystery, a psychic and a gifted man work to stop the evil penetrating their town while attempting to determine if dreams really do come true.


This novel is available on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles websites.

I have the pleasure to announce that I have published my first novel.  It is book one in a trilogy.  I am currently working on my second novel.  I welcome your comments.  Thank you.

Welcome to Kelly Rose's world of Philosophy 

of Aesthetics &

Art from the 19th Century 
ART 623

PLATO

Plato thought that poetry was corruptive in nature as poets have no real knowledge of truth; believing that "a man is not to be reverenced more than truth."  I believe that poetry taps into one's emotions, offering beauty, a feeling of not being alone, providing truth that an individual can embrace. Poetry allows me to learn about myself, revealing secrets that I have kept from my self.  

One poem that I love and helps explain those mysterious aspects of love is Emily Dickinson's poem #480:

"Why do I love" You, Sir?

Because --

The Wind does not require the Grass

To answer -- Wherefore when He pass

She cannot keep Her place.

Because He knows -- and 

Do not You --

And We know not --

Enough for Us

The Wisdom it be so --

The Lightening -- never asked an Eye

Wherefore it shut -- when He was by --

Because He knows it cannot speak --

And reasons not contained --

-- Of Talk--

There be -- preferred by Daintier Folk --

The Sunrise -- Sir -- compelleth Me --

Because He's Sunrise -- and I see --

Therefore - Then --

I love Thee --

This poem tells me that sometimes love does not make sense, but like the sunrise, it is nonetheless. 

The novel "Jane Eyre" written by Charlotte Bronte (1847), is a classic, that Plato would have opposed.

 

Aristotle

Unlike Plato, Aristotle sought to determine the origins of poetry and went into great detail about what makes a tragedy and what makes a comedy.  Reversal of fortune was utilized in such great tales like "Oedipus."  Comedy shows "the ugly and distorted, but does not imply pain."  "The Importance of Being Earnest"  (1895) by Oscar Wilde is a wonderful example of comedy that shows the ugly and distorted as a farce about mistaken identities, secret engagements, and lovers entanglements, a perfect example of Aristotle's explanation of comedy.

 I love this story, it was a fun play to read, as well as a fun movie to watch.

PLOTINUS

What makes art, poetry, or music beautiful...Plotinus believed beauty is defined by the soul, along with intellect.  So the "soul when it is purified becomes form and formative power, altogether bodiless and intellectual and entirely belonging to the divine, whence beauty springs and all that is akin to it"  Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata",  (1801),  for me, depicts the divine and is truly soul felt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=4Tr0otuiQuU#t=0 

 

This link will take you to a video of "Moonlight Sonata."

Although, Plotinus speaks of defining ugliness, that which repels or has no real form.  I would think that Henri De Toulouse-Lautrec 's art might strike Plotinus as ugly, not engaging the soul but engaging the baser nature of man, and thus find it repellent.

 This portrait "Two Half-Naked Women Seen From Behind"  (1894) by Toulouse-Lautrec is an example of what might have been considered ugly, as it is not a virtuous portrait, but rather a gritty, even vulgar portrait.  I disagree with Plotinus, that beauty must be a shining example of virtue or purity, as this portrait depicts a gritty reality of performers (maybe from the Moulin Rouge), and I find there is a beauty in this truth of life. 

Henry De Toulouse-Lautrec "At the Moulin Rouge: The Dance" (1890), represents a lifestyle that was decadent.  The famous "Can-can" dance caused quite a stir and attempts were made to have it banned.       

 David Hume

 Hume believed that "beauty is no quality in things themselves; it exists merely in the mind which contemplates them; and each mind perceives a different beauty."  I agree with this philosophy, as I do believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.    Although a true connoisseur must refine their senses, developing a delicacy, if you will.  The connoisseur needs to educate oneself, to see beyond their own bias and prejudice, expanding their knowledge of art of different forms, form different eras, and different cultures.

Nineteenth century Tlingit totem pole saved by The Totem Heritage Center, is an excellent example of art from a different culture that many might not appreciate, as it is unfamiliar and may be seen as barbaric.  Totem poles are used as a symbol to represent a tribe or tell a story.  Many museums are preserving the history and art of this beautiful monuments, such as The Totem Heritage Center.  

Painting by Ju Lian (1891), "Peonies & Butterflies" - Though this painting is of the Chinese culture, the universal nature of the subject, would make this painting easier for others from a different culture to appreciate and see it beauty.

GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL

Hegel believed that true art and beauty defy scientific explanation as imagination is capricious and without law.  Further, art can transcend being entertainment when it becomes philosophical and religious and brings one closer to the spirit.  In this "its freedom alone is fine art truly art, and it only fulfills its supreme task when it has placed itself in the same sphere as religion and philosophy, and when it is simply one way of bringing to our minds and expressing the Divine, the deepest interests of mankind, and the most comprehensive truths of the spirit." 

With that said, I don't believe that Hegel would approve of fairy tales, nor art representing a fairy tale, as this would be a form of entertainment and not an expression of the Divine.

Snowdrop and the Seven Little Men by John Dickson Batten (1897) is based upon the the Fairy Tale by the Grimm Brothers, entitled "Snowdrop," where we get our tail of Snow White and the Seven Drawfs.  Without knowing the story behind the painting, this painting has some disturbing elements to it, as the "little men" look like they might be out to harm our sleeping beauty, instead of protecting her from the evil Queen.    

One has to wonder if Van Gogh's "Bible" (1885) would fit Hegel's definition of fine art. 

FRIEDRICH SCHILLER

Schiller argues that art and beauty is subjective: “Whereas all semblance originates in man considered as perceiving subject, he is only availing himself to the undisputed rights of ownership when he reclaims Semblance and Substance, and deals with it according to laws of his own” 

I agree that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  

I love the colors used by Claude Monet.  I find his paintings to be beautiful.

Water Lily Pond Symphony in Rose (1899).

 

Spring Flowers 1864

I must confess that I love flowers and Monet's use of blues, violet, and greens in "Water Lily Pond Symphony in Rose" is lovely to view.  The colors take me to another world. 

ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER

Schopenhauer speaks of music as unique and that it stands alone in the world of art, as "we must attribute to music a far more serious and profound significance that refers to the innermost being of the world and part of our own self" - Music is not tangible in the way of a portrait, sculpture, or poem is, as we do not "recognize the copy, the repetition, of any Idea of inner the inner nature" of music.  The power and beauty of music is that we hear it and we feel it.  Its language is understood by all and is comparable to the beauty, purity, and knowledge found within arithmetic.

http://youtu.be/XMbvcp480Y4

Schopenhauer believed that the "adagio" speaks "of the suffering of a great and noble endeavor that disdains all trifling happiness."  After listening to this piece of music, I must agree.  While the "allegro maestoso" resonates with achieving long term dreams or goals of triumph.  

Listen to both and see if you agree. Music is a powerful art form and is not always included when one speaks or thinks of fine art.   

LEO TOLSTOY

Art is more than this creative process.  Once created, it must have meaning and “contribute what is good to humanity.”  Art should broaden one’s mind, allowing for growth within the mind, heart, and spirit.  True art conveys a “new idea” that is of “importance to mankind;” is easily understood by others; and comes from an “inner need” of the artist and “not an external inducement.”  It takes these three elements to create true art.  If one element is lacking, then so is the art created.

Tolstoy wrote the classic novels "Anna Karenina" in 1877 and "War and Peace" in 1869.  I love "Anna Karenina," it is a rich story filled with great detail, about love, honor, betrayal, and more. 

 White Lilac by Isaac Levitan 1895

I love this painting and find it very beautiful, but I wonder if it holds all three elements that Tolstoy believed is required for fine art. 

Perfect art is of the higher degree and its “content is important, significant to all, will be moral, perfectly understood, and therefore be beautiful.”  I believe that the "White Lilac" does meet Tolstoy's criteria.  

"Temple of Pallas Athena by Vasily Polenov 1881-82

I believe this painting is a great reminder of the past, beautifully depicted. 

"Grandmother's Garden" by Vasily Polenov 1878

Beautiful painting, I love its realism.  

 CLIVE BELL

Clive bell believed that "the starting point for all systems of aesthetics must be the personal experience of a peculiar emotion.  The objects that provide this emotion we call works of art." 

Significant Form, the “lines and colors combined in a particular way, certain forms and relations of forms that stir our aesthetic emotions, common in all visual works of art,” is what creates this quality.

The Paddington Station by William Powell Frith 1863

Mr. Bell did not consider Frith's "Paddington Station a work of art.  He felt that it was "an interesting and amusing document."  It did not stir his aesthetic emotion.  

Whereas, Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party" 1880-81 does stir the aesthetic emotion.

I also love Renoir's "Umbrellas" 1881-6.

JOHN DEWEY

Dewey believed that whenever a work of art was experienced aesthetically, it was "recreated," by whom ever experienced it, as people change from era to era.  Life goes on “in an environment; not merely because of it, but through its interaction with it.”  Art celebrates with “peculiar intensity the moments in which the past reinforces the present and in which the future is a quickening of what now is.”  To love life is to live life and to have human experience is to appreciate art.  When our senses are engaged, and we are in balance with our environment, our primal selves, then we can feel art, and know art.

 

 "Young Woman in The Garden" by Edouard Manet 1880

 "Girl in Garden" by Mary Cassatt 1880-82

A contrast between two different artists - Edouard Manet and Mary Cassatt, both placing women in a garden.  Though there is a delicacy to Mary Cassatt's portrait, it is Edouard Manet's painting with its bold colors that I like best.  

MARTIN HEIDEGGER

It is through the art work that we know “what the shoes are in truth.”   It is only through the art that we know the shoes, as a description does not give us the shoe’s relation to the earth, nor does knowing the shoe’s usefulness.  Van Gogh’s painting shows the truth of the shoes.  This ‘entity emerges into the unconcealedness of its being.”  

"A Pair of Shoes" by Vincent van Gogh 1886

We cannot look at art as just its equipment, as other aesthetic theories would have us do, we must open our vision to “the fact that what is workly in the work, equipmental in equipment, and thingly in the thing comes closer to us only when we think the Being of beings. Art is truth setting itself to work.”

 

Personally, I just really enjoy this painting. I believe the shoes do tell a story and this this painting does give us the true essence of the shoes.  

I love how Van Gogh uses colors, as well as when he doesn't use color.

 "Blossoming Almond Tree, Saint-Remy by Van Gogh 1890

"The Starry Night" by Van Gogh 1889

R.G. COLLINGWOOD

 

The artist does not create from his “reason or will or consciousness,” but rather from inspiration, something that is deep “within other than his will;” something unconscious.  

The value we find within a work of art therefore comes from not only the work of art itself, but to the “activities which go on in us when we contemplate it.”  In short, the value of art comes from our imaginations, which are shaped by our experiences.  Through the talent of the artist, we are able to view (see) or listen (hear) what an artist has created and through our imagination, we give it value.  Thus, a work of art “proper is a total activity which the person enjoying it apprehends, or is conscious of, by the use of his imagination.”

  

Collingwood was a fan of the art work of Paul Cezanne.

These are a few of my favorite Cezannes.

"Still Life with Skull and Candlestick" Cezanne 1866

 "Melting Snow Fontainbleau by Cezanne 1880

 "Tulips in a Vase by Cezanne 1892

I choose 19th century art, as this was a era of change. Women were seeking the right to vote, and were finding their voice through art and literature, slaves were seeking emancipation, industrialization was on the rise, civilizations fell, like the French, and others were on the rise, such as England.  The 19th century was a time of inventions, new philosophies, advances in medicine; railroads connected towns, men set out to tame the wild west, and photography and film were on the rise.  I believe that the art reflects the history of this era.    

As for the Philosophy of Aesthetics, art, and beauty, well I believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and a person's life experiences shapes their view of aesthetics, art and beauty.  

 Works Cited

Aristotle. Poetics. Trans. S. H. Butcher. A Public Domain Book. Web. May, 2012.

Bell, Clive. “The Aesthetic Hypothesis.” Art. New York: Chatto & Windus, 1981. 15-34.

Collingwood, Robin George. The Principles of Art. Chap. 7. Oxford: Claredon Press, 1938. 125-152.

Dewey, John. Art as Experience. New York: Perigree, 1980. Chap. 1-2. 3-27.

Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich. “Chapters 1-3.” Introduction to Aesthetics (Berlin Aesthetics Lectures of 1820s. Trans. T. M. Knox. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. 1-14.

Heidegger, Martin.”The Origin of the Work of Art.” Poetry, Language, Thought. Trans. A. Hofstader. Lectures 1 & 2. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. 32-48.

Hume, David. “Of the Standard of Taste.” Essays: Moral, Political, and Literary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1965. 231-255.

Plato. “Allegory of the Cave.” The Republic. Trans. Benjamin Jowett. Book VII. New York: Vintage Books (Random House), 1991. 253-261.

Plato. The Republic. Trans. Robin Waterfield. Book X.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. 344-363.

Plotinus. Enneads. Trans. A. H. Armstrong. Vol. I. Section 6. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1996. 229-263.

Schiller, Friedrich. “Letters.” On the Aesthetic Education of Man. 26-27. Trans. E. Wilkinson & L. Willoughby. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967. 191-219.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. The World as Will and Representation. Trans. E. F. J. Payne. Vol. 1. Section 52. New York: Dover, 1969. 255-267.

Tolstoy, Leo. “On Art.” What is Art? and Essays on Art. Trans. A. Maude. London: Oxford University Press, 1930. 46-61.