Terry Teachout advises us on “what to do when an artist is discovered to have dirty moral laundry.” He offers five points to remember.
Terry Teachout advises us on “what to do when an artist is discovered to have dirty moral laundry.” He offers five points to remember.
– some comments on Teachout’s article;
– We should remember that Shoshtakovich had opportunities to leave the ussr, and chose not to do so. (That said I like some of his string quartets, his violin and cello concertos.)
– I don’t believe for a second all men are ‘monsters of depravity.’ (Based on what scale?) How are we to make moral judgments if all men are equally depraved? (And in my opinion Somerset Maugham was an idiot.)
– “The work is what matters most.” Really? (To whom?) If Hitler had painted a great masterpiece would that make him a great artist?
– “One of the enduring mysteries of beautiful art is that it can be made by ugly souls.”
– this is because people are mixtures of good and bad.
– the thing about Miller that complicates his case is that he presented himself as a great moralist; as the moral voice of his generation. (And he knew so much better that he wasn’t.) He allowed the ‘press’ to present him this way… and he knew it was a lie.
“The work is what matters most.”
That’s his primary point. Moral people do not make the greatest art and immoral people the worst, because art doesn’t come from a wellspring of personal morality. So if Hitler had written a few brilliant short stories, they would be brilliant because there are rules of language and manners of literary judgment that can ascribe brilliance to a work regardless the character of the author. Critics would probably be embarrassed to praise them b/c of the author, but they are not embarrassed to praise trash b/c of the author either. Subjectivity will cut both ways. Longfellow isn’t popular among many critics, but he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest, American poet ever, so I believe his lack of popularity is simple bias.
As for the ‘monsters’ comment, I think he was exaggerating, but he probably believed it. I know I could be painted in a bad light, but that light would be matters of spin and perspective. The truth be known, I’m a literal saint.