The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray, my definition of art has changed and evolved into a more open yet complex idea. I believe that art is the form in which one's creativity is captured, and this creation can take place in numerous forms, whether through music, sculpture, painting, literature, film, or dance. The medium in which the artists chose to display their imagination allows them to express emotion. At first, I believed that the artist must convey a meaning or reflection of life of some kind in order for a piece to be considered art. I thought that art needed to have a purpose that could be displaying the artist's perspective on an issue. While some artists choose to use their artwork to communicate beliefs and show hidden or obvious meanings, I now understand that art does not have to reflect life. Art does not need justification. Art does not need to have a purpose, for "all art is quite useless" (Wilde 3). I now believe that art is what the audience makes of it, not what the artist is trying to force upon them. Art is not a reflection of life but a "reflection of the spectator" (Wilde 3). Spectators who go "beneath the surface" of admiring the Beauty of art to seek out hidden meaning do so "at their peril" (Wilde 3). I think that it is beautiful when artists convey strong messages such as Pablo Picasso's Guernica, which depicts the "massacre of the Basque Village in 1937" and was "one of the most powerful decries against fascism" (10 Controversial). However, I no longer believe that art needs to have meaning. My personal view has become more aesthetic in the sense that art serves no purpose but to be beautiful and admired. Separating art from morality is what makes are so subjective because it truly mirrors the spectator. If one finds "ugly meanings in beautiful things," then that reflects them, and if one finds "beautiful meanings in beautiful things," that is also a reflection of the spectator. The way everyone views art is different because art has no meaning, for the spectators create the meaning, not the artist. Art is independent of life in that art is a medium for imagination and sublimity. Art is a means to escape life, for it does not have to represent it.