Does it help an artist to write a treatise on art?
November, 25; 2024. By Arscodex
Today we are going to talk about something very special, it is about treatises on art, written in this case by the artists themselves, and their influence on the art world, both contemporary to the treatise and later.
Thus, we can affirm that in general the artists who dare or have enough courage to write a treatise on art, are good artists. And we will see this below by listing some that have appeared throughout the History of Art.
Regarding whether the treatise helps the artist, we can say that obviously yes; in fact there are some artists who are better known for their treatise than for their own work, such as the Roman architect Vitruvius (we have already yielded a first name). In general everything that the artist gives, if he is good, will be welcomed, and if in addition the artist intends to help other artists, then this fact will be rewarded as we say by posterity.
So, without further delay, let us begin our journey through the various treatises on Art. Let us remember that "not all who are are here", but "those who are here, are".
We begin by mentioning the already named Vitruvius and his treatise "De architectura", famous, or let us say very famous, treatise on that branch of art that comes to us today in a pristine and crystalline way and that is compulsory reading in architecture schools, even more than 2,000 years after its first publication. So much so that it is remembered more than the artist's own architectural work, in general.
We continue in the world of brick and mortar and now we focus on "The Four Books of Architecture", a treatise on said art written by Palladio, that great architect of the Venetian cinquecento. In this case his work, which is well remembered and is still standing, is accompanied by these words and together they give a special luster to the work of this Italian Renaissance artist.
We are also going to review Lope de Vega and his "Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo" (The New Art of Making Comedies in This Time), a brilliant and succulent text that will guide all of us who want to learn how to write a play.
We are going to continue a little further and mention the Chinese painter Shitao, with his "Discourse on Painting by the Bitter Gourd Monk" (it was himself in one of his nicknames), written approximately at the beginning of the 18th century AD.
We are getting closer to the end of the list with Kandinsky and his "On the Spiritual in Art", a brief offprint that deals with the sensations caused by geometric figures and different strokes of abstract art, etc.
And to finish, we cannot help but mention ourselves, that is, the writer, Pedro Alonso Pablos, mention himself with this very text that the reader is currently enjoying, the magazine Arscodex and its various articles on various aspects of art.
In summary, we can highlight three elements about treatises on art: the artists who write them are usually good artists; sometimes the treatises stand out even more than the artist's own work and, as a whole, these treatises can be considered a gift, a compliment, an ornament, which rounds off and finishes giving substance to the work and way of seeing the life of the artists who have written them.
Thus, we can affirm that in general the artists who dare or have enough courage to write a treatise on art, are good artists. And we will see this below by listing some that have appeared throughout the History of Art.
Regarding whether the treatise helps the artist, we can say that obviously yes; in fact there are some artists who are better known for their treatise than for their own work, such as the Roman architect Vitruvius (we have already yielded a first name). In general everything that the artist gives, if he is good, will be welcomed, and if in addition the artist intends to help other artists, then this fact will be rewarded as we say by posterity.
So, without further delay, let us begin our journey through the various treatises on Art. Let us remember that "not all who are are here", but "those who are here, are".
We begin by mentioning the already named Vitruvius and his treatise "De architectura", famous, or let us say very famous, treatise on that branch of art that comes to us today in a pristine and crystalline way and that is compulsory reading in architecture schools, even more than 2,000 years after its first publication. So much so that it is remembered more than the artist's own architectural work, in general.
We continue in the world of brick and mortar and now we focus on "The Four Books of Architecture", a treatise on said art written by Palladio, that great architect of the Venetian cinquecento. In this case his work, which is well remembered and is still standing, is accompanied by these words and together they give a special luster to the work of this Italian Renaissance artist.
We are also going to review Lope de Vega and his "Arte nuevo de hacer comedias en este tiempo" (The New Art of Making Comedies in This Time), a brilliant and succulent text that will guide all of us who want to learn how to write a play.
We are going to continue a little further and mention the Chinese painter Shitao, with his "Discourse on Painting by the Bitter Gourd Monk" (it was himself in one of his nicknames), written approximately at the beginning of the 18th century AD.
We are getting closer to the end of the list with Kandinsky and his "On the Spiritual in Art", a brief offprint that deals with the sensations caused by geometric figures and different strokes of abstract art, etc.
And to finish, we cannot help but mention ourselves, that is, the writer, Pedro Alonso Pablos, mention himself with this very text that the reader is currently enjoying, the magazine Arscodex and its various articles on various aspects of art.
In summary, we can highlight three elements about treatises on art: the artists who write them are usually good artists; sometimes the treatises stand out even more than the artist's own work and, as a whole, these treatises can be considered a gift, a compliment, an ornament, which rounds off and finishes giving substance to the work and way of seeing the life of the artists who have written them.
