From EVENING TALKS with SRI AUROBINDO Recorded by A. B. PURANI
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->14-1-1941
Sri Aurobindo saw a volume containing Cezanne's paintings and one of the painters of the 20th century representing the most modern trend of the artistic movement in Europe.
He found Cezanne "remarkable" in his portraits, all of them were "fine" and "showed power".
In the evening he said he liked Matisse also. But he found "three things general about modern art: l. Ugliness. 2. Vulgarity or coarseness. 3. Absurdity".
Sri Aurobindo : In their ''nude" studies it is a very low sexuality which they bring out. They call it "Life" ! One can hardly agree. Even in the ugliest corner of life there is something fine and even beautiful that saves it. This art explains why France and Europe have gone down.
When these artists go further in the application of their theories than they become absurd.
And what they mean by ''inner" truth of the object is most often the "subconscient" or "lower vital". There is no objection to suppressing the non-essentials of a form in a work of art. In fact all great artists do it. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>But the work that you produce must have aesthetic appeal.</span>
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This is when I referred again to Ashok Ji's explaination of Vital, in context of Sri Aurobindo. Ashokji, you had explained vital as - prANa/prANamaya. what is 'lower' (and 'upper') in his terminology?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->14-1-1941
Sri Aurobindo saw a volume containing Cezanne's paintings and one of the painters of the 20th century representing the most modern trend of the artistic movement in Europe.
He found Cezanne "remarkable" in his portraits, all of them were "fine" and "showed power".
In the evening he said he liked Matisse also. But he found "three things general about modern art: l. Ugliness. 2. Vulgarity or coarseness. 3. Absurdity".
Sri Aurobindo : In their ''nude" studies it is a very low sexuality which they bring out. They call it "Life" ! One can hardly agree. Even in the ugliest corner of life there is something fine and even beautiful that saves it. This art explains why France and Europe have gone down.
When these artists go further in the application of their theories than they become absurd.
And what they mean by ''inner" truth of the object is most often the "subconscient" or "lower vital". There is no objection to suppressing the non-essentials of a form in a work of art. In fact all great artists do it. <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>But the work that you produce must have aesthetic appeal.</span>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is when I referred again to Ashok Ji's explaination of Vital, in context of Sri Aurobindo. Ashokji, you had explained vital as - prANa/prANamaya. what is 'lower' (and 'upper') in his terminology?