The Need For Beauty

Beauty is widely defined as the aesthetic quality of certain objects, which makes these objects enjoyable to see. These objects may be physical or non-physical. Such objects may include sunsets, landscapes, beautiful people and exquisite works of art. Beauty, along with beauty, is the most important theme of aesthetics, among the major branches of contemporary art history.

In the twentieth century, aesthetic beauty has become highly subjective, and not merely a matter of finding pleasing appearances. The aesthetic quality of beauty depends, to a great extent, on how the artist perceives beauty. Certain types of artistic temperament have been shown to be related to an inclination toward the appreciation of beauty, especially of the physical kind. The other type of artistic temperament tends to value beauty according to the degree of personal importance that the object served for the artist. Modern art historians trace the beginning of abstract expressionism to the Romantic Period, when artists, feeling the loss of idealism, sought to provide an objective standpoint to art, by means of which beauty could be appreciated as something objective rather than a subjective passion. In this way, the concept of beauty became associated with a specific and limited set of values, namely the desire for beauty as an independent and subjective form.

In our time, beauty is still largely subjective, though the need for beauty – for objects as well as for the feelings they evoke – has also become more refined. We cannot deny the existence of aesthetic beauty, of certain qualities in objects that express themselves powerfully on our faces and bodies. However, this need to define beauty has become less intense, perhaps because our tastes have become so narrowed. More than ever before, we need to realize that beauty is not a need; beauty is a way of life. We simply need to recognize its presence in the midst of the quotidian activities of our lives, and to learn to appreciate it for what it is, instead of what it should be.