pose in order for it to both absorb new ideas and communicaterneternal verities in contemporary terms. The strength of realismrnas a form derives from its integrative power and elasticity,rnboth of which enable it to stretch into an infinite variety ofrnshapes and contain that power surge which is content electrifiedrnbv temperament. In his 1863 obituary of Delacroix,rnBaudelaire wrote that the painter was “passionately in lovernwith passion and coldlv determined to seek out the means tornexpress passion in the most visible manner.” Once again, wernare reminded that form must serve content, even if the contentrnis emotion itself.rnPerhaps this respect for established Western forms is whatrnkept 19th-eentury Romantic masters from crossing thernline over into the abstract aesthetic. Some talked about it,rnand others nearly went over the brink, but the great ones neverrntoppled. Perhaps they grasped that abstract art—as beautifulrnas some of it may be—is a highly limited art form, onernwithin which they could not expand their aesthetic vocabularyrnany more than thev could fill its shallow vessel with a richrncontent that would tie it to human life, human concerns, andrnhuman needs. Within the discipline of architecture, abstractionrnhas ample room to evolve into a complex and noble literature,rnbut in painting and sculpture the abstract aestheticrnmust b’ its nature turn inward upon itself and become an examinationrnof its own form, hi abstract art, aesthetics is all.rnAs for self-expression? Demonstrably, it can c]uickly becomernself-indulgence or else so personal and esoteric a linguarnthat it holds little interest for anyone other than the artist.rnNot a few “artists” in the 20th century have proclaimed a newrnaesthetic “language” only to obfuscate the fact that they werernspeaking gibberish. But to expand the breadth of the vocabularyrnof the 19th-century Romantics—laterally—within thernform of realism is, for contemporary Romantic Realists, tornmeet no boundaries at all. The form is inductive rather thanrnreductive, its potential so infinite that limitless expression andrnlimitless ideas can be explored within the aesthetic, pleasingrnthe senses and the mind, as well as the heart.rnThe work of Classical artists engaged in searching for thernideal can become impersonal and codified. That of Realistrnartists in searching for the “real” can become trivial and literal.rnThat of the best Abstract artists stops at the point where allrngood representational art begins: with a strong abstract design.rnRomantic Realists synthesize all these various persuasionsrnso as to combine their strengths while avoiding their weaknesses.rnThen, unable to resist—for that is what makes themrnRomantics—Romantic Realists ignite the flame of emotionrndeep within the interior of their work, and it spreads and glowsrnthroughout. If successful, the resulting art offers tantalizing visionsrnof a heightened reality, a reality that is universal yet individual,rnimagined yet real, timeless yet timely. Emotion harnessedrnby technique, expression evolving from content, and therneternal explored in the temporal. Mood, mystery, andrnmetaphor. Possibilities. Passion. Life.rnRomantic Realists do not deny and mav even dramatizernhuman struggle, suffering, or absurdity, but if they choose tornexplore the underbelly of life, the best of them do so with arnhigher purpose. It takes little imagination to bewail the ills ofrnexistence or to stamp one’s artistic foot at reality throughrnirony or to retreat into either angst or the endless distraction ofrnnovelty; it takes even less imagination to propagandize andrnpromote political agenda through the “media” of art. Artistsrncan address human struggles, to be sure. But rather than resortingrnto the easy outlets of whine or tantrum, they can expressrnstruggle as an act of affirmation, by respecting the powerrnof human sight rather than degrading it and by offeringrnvisions of why the struggle is worthwhile so that life might bernenhanced and encouraged toward the better.rnSelf-absorption and fascination with the dark arc pastimes ofrnthe idle, the alienated, and the angry; artists so preoccupied arernserving as the handmaidens of death and destruction. Worserneven than the nihilism of much modernist art, the deliberaternimmersion into the horrific and demonic in which toornmuch contemporary art wallows lacks cither aesthetics or purposern—except, perhaps, the purpose of shocking an artist’srnname into headlines for an illusory moment of fame.rnWarnings against artistic descent into decadence have comernto us repeatedly throughout the ages. Aristotle: “As for thosern[works of art] that by means of spectacle arouse not fear butrnonly horror, they have nothing in common with tragedy.”rnMozart: “Violent passion should never be expressed to thernpoint of provoking disgust. Even in a horrible situation, musicrnshould never hurt the ears, nor cease to be music.” Goethe:rn”There is an empty spot in the brain, a place, that is, where nornobject makes an impression, just as the eye too contains arnblind spot. If man pas attention to this place, he becomes absorbedrnin it; he falls into mental illness; he imagines things ofrnanother world, which in fact are pure nothings and have neitherrnforms nor boundaries, but cause fear like that of night’srnempty space and pursue more cruelh than specters arnonernwho does not tear himself from their grasp.” All of us who lovernart must heed these warnings. For if we fail to generate arn21st-century renaissance, then surely we shall suffer a DarkrnAge. The alternative exists, because the legacv lies.rnToday’s Romantics are less vocal than their 19th-centuryrncounterparts, who banded together in camaraderie to becomernthe vanguard; if they are “radicals,” then they are radicals forrnbeauty. Todav’s genuine rebels are men and women—painters,rnsculptors, composers, writers—who work quicth’ and individuallyrnto create meaningful art from the fountainhead of theirrnpersonal vision. They care not for bombasties against otherrnpersuasions. They work confident in the knowledge that beautyrnilluminating pro-human ideas speaks through their art tornanyone who wishes to sec the light.rnIt is a passion for life that leads contemporarv RomanticrnRealists forward to express a rebirth of values that can elevaterntheir own spirit as well as of those who experience their art. Itrnis a reverence and a tenacious love for the beautiful—and forrnthe possible—in the world and in humankind that clears theirrnvision to create images of glory in their art—images that thrillrnus, that mo’c us, that inspire us. For what cannot be imaginedrncannot happen.rnArtists have always been the dreamers. Whether we followrnbeautiful dreams or nightmares is up to us. Ugliness andrncruelty and tragedy are part of life, to be sure, but the RomanticrnRealist knows that in art, it is life-serving values that wernneed to see—to experience—in order to bring those visions ofrnvalues into the real wodd. The avant garde artists of today mayrnagain be the romantic, yet unsung, crusaders of the future—rneach armed not with a sword but with a rose. ernI’he sculpture on the cover and the four paintings that followrnare examples of Romantic Realism. The analyses are byrnAlexandra York.rnMARCH 1993/17rnrnrn