Art
Modern times
Giles Auty
Since so many art galleries are closed over Christmas and I am, in any case, loafing in agreeable sunshine in the village of Gualchos in the foothills of the Sierra de Lujar, I must ask indulgence if I stray a little from my usual paths of duty. A few days ago I was in Granada, renewing acquaintance with the gardens of the Generalife and with the Alhambra, the most complete Arab palace remaining anywhere. I am tempted to add that the watery ambience, complexity of decoration and lissome elegance of the buildings add up to an experience which can put contem- porary Western notions of civilisation into rather an unkind perspective.
Naturally, most of us are proud of our own particular era and like to imagine, in spite of a good deal of evidence to the contrary, that we are wiser and more privileged today, occupying some pinnacle of evolution to which previous generations would have been pleased to look up, speechless with admiration. Those old enough to remember advertising language in the Fifties will recall that the word `modern' was used then invariably as a term of unqualified praise. While house- wives were adjured, reasonably perhaps, to divest themselves of anything old- fashioned and replace it with the most up-to-date in labour-saving devices, house- holders of both sexes were encouraged similarly by the then emerging do-it- yourself magazines to indulge in a process of ruthless modernisation of their homes. Often this last amounted to an act of vandalism as original wooden shutters were removed and destroyed and panelled doors, stair-rods and the like found them- selves boxed in with hardboard. This was so that dusting might become a thing of the past.
Today we have become slightly more reasonable. In fact, the Fifties was prob- ably the last decade in which unreasonable faith in the modern remained almost sacro- sanct. In the everyday terms of that de- cade, even people of intelligence imagined still that technology on its own would provide future solutions to just about the entire gamut of human ills. Meanwhile, in art, a feeling persisted that aesthetic achievement would march stride for stride with the genuine progress of technology. Modern art was described invariably as developing, evolving or advancing, as though on some directly parallel course to that of modern medicine, say, or modern aeronautical engineering. Museums of modern art proliferated, dedicated tacitly to the notion that some major break- through in human enlightenment lay al- ways just around the corner for those who would walk willingly with our artistic men- tors. In the meantime, few noticed that the very notion of a museum of modern art, or modern collection, is strange in itself.
Indeed, 'modern' had been an emotive word for so long that its precise meaning in such a context was no longer questioned. Were we using the word in a vaguely adulatory way, in the manner beloved of advertisers? Or were we taking one of the two accepted dictionary definitions as our guide: 'of the present and recent times' or `new-fashioned, not antiquated'? Clearly the assumption is false that to describe objects or ideas as modern is to praise them automatically. Indeed, would we assume that modern morals or modern manners are bound to be better than traditional ones? Such a conclusion would seem rash. Advertising copy notwithstand- ing, the condition of being modern pro- vides, in itself, no guarantee of anything. Why, then, have we accepted the principle that a precise degree of modernism should be a major determining factor in the selection of modern collections whether regionally or nationally? For decades past, modernism has come to be looked on, in itself, as an effective index of quality. Thus where choice lies between two art objects, boards of trustees — who are selected, in any case, for their known bias towards the modern — will opt almost invariably for the more modern-seeming. In art, rather than household gadgetry, such bias seems impossible to justify. Yet this biased princi- ple remains adhered to, to this day, in modern art r aseums throughout the world. While we debate matters of artistic detail endlessly, this extraordinary anoma- ly has managed to live on at the centre of our artistic affairs, virtually unnoticed.
Clearly modern technical evolution has brought the human race some admirable benefits. The latest techniques in medicine and communications are among the more obvious of these. Even the latest thing in household appliances — those dear old standbys of the advertising copywriter can make an important contribution to busy lives. An ambitious young career woman I know has equipped her small house with a variety of excellent, up-to- date devices so as to make her hard-earned leisure time as comfortable and relaxing as possible. Her neighbour, in the meantime, has also shown a certain modishness in his habits by equipping himself with three rottweilers which bark, snarl and hurl themselves at doors and fences whenever they detect movement, albeit in the adjoin- ing house. I fear technical sophistication on its own guaranteees us nothing in this modern world. It is genuine understanding of values and ability to live communally which underpins true civilisation.
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