Bad Art

Abstract

Abstract Under what conditions do cases of artistic badness matter? When, if ever, is it appropriate to respond to them with indignation (as we might respond, for example, to certain cases of moral badness), and when with a dismissive shrug? This essay attempts to answer those questions by way of a number of case studies, including music by Nietzsche and Mozart, and a painting by Edward Burne-Jones. The conclusion is that, although sometimes misplaced, the active denunciation of bad art may be not merely appropriate, but essential, and that the reasons for this are distinctively aesthetic reasons, and not just moral ones in disguise. Special mention is reserved for those who lament the general decline of aesthetic culture—in this age or any other.