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In 1877, Ruskin accused Whistler of 'flinging a pot of paint in the public's face'. Was he right? After all, Whistler always denied that the true function of art was to represent anything. If a painting does not represent, what is it, other than mere paint, flung in the public's face? Whistler's answer was simple: painting is music - or it is poetry. Georges Braque, half a century later, echoed Whistler's answer. So did Braque's friends Apollinaire and Ponge. They presented their poetry as music, too - and as painting. But meanwhile, composers such as Satie and Stravinsky were presenting their own art - music - as if it transposed the values of painting or of poetry. The fundamental principle of this intermedial aesthetic, which bound together an extraordinary fraternity of artists in all media in Paris, from 1885 to 1945, was this: we must always think about the value of a work of art, not within the logic of its own medium, but as if it transposed the value of art in another medium. Peter Dayan traces the history of this principle: how it created our very notion of 'great art', why it declined as a vision from the 1960s, and how, in the 21st century, it is fighting back.
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Art as Music, Music as Poetry, Poetry as Art, from Whistler to Stravinsky and Beyond Peter Dayan Art as Music, Music as Poetry, Poetry as Art, from Whistler to Stravinsky and Beyond This page has been left blank intentionally Art as Music, Music as Poetry, Poetry as Art, from Whistler to Stravinsky and Beyond Peter Dayan University of Edinburgh, UK © Peter Dayan 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Peter Dayan has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company Wey Court East Suite 420 Union Road 101 Cherry Street Farnham Burlington Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405 England USA www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Dayan, Peter. Art as music, music as poetry, poetry as art, from Whistler to Stravinsky and beyond. 1. Arts – Philosophy. 2. Poetry and the arts. 3. Music and literature. 4. Art and music. 5. Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) 6. Aesthetics, Modern – 19th century. 7. Aesthetics, Modern – 20th century. I. Title 700.1–dc22 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Dayan, Peter. Art as music, music as poetry, poetry as art : from Whistler to Stravinsky and beyond./ Peter Dayan. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7546-6791-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-1-4094-2793-3 (ebook) 1. Art and music. 2. Music and literature. 3. Poetry and the arts. 4. Music—Philosophy and aesthetics. I. Title. ML3849.D382 2010 700.1—dc22 2010047376 ISBN 9780754667919 (hbk) ISBN 9781409427933 (ebk) V Contents List of Figures and Plates Introduction The Five Laws of the Interart Aesthetic vii 1 1 Whistler’s Poetry 2 Satie’s Art 33 3 Apollinaire’s Art 53 4 Braque’s Music 75 5 Ponge’s Music 95 6 Stravinsky’s Poetry Conclusion ‘That’s of course what poetry is’: Painting in Paris and London, December 2009 Bibliography Index 9 119 147 173 177 This page has been left blank intentionally List of Figures and Plates Figures 3.1 Guillaume Apollinaire, ‘Cœur Couronne et Miroir’, from Et moi aussi je suis peintre (unpaginated). 55 3.2 Frontisp