issue144 [加州阳光]第六次作业，请拍

biggestmouseUID: 2218003

TOPIC: ISSUE144 - "It is the artist, not the critic,* who gives society something of lasting value."

*a person who evaluates works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, etc.
WORDS: 467          TIME: 2:17:01          DATE: 2006-7-7

I agree with the speaker's broad assertion that it is the artist who gives society
something of lasting value. However, the speaker neglects the influence of the critic on the art. In my point of view, I think the artist and the critic are supplement to each other.

First of all, the artist is the creator of works of art, such as novels, films, music, paintings, which add pleasure to our daily life. In other words, it is the artist who gives us some valuable pleasure. For example, the movie "Titanic", in which a poor man named Jack fall in love with lady Ross who has been engaged a millionaire, shows us the value of love and the pleasure of romance. Moreover, some artists' works are very instructive and they are always talked by people. Shakespeare was an famous artist and he created many instructive works.  The tragedy Macbeth, in which Macbeth ascended the throne after killing his cousin King Dunkon, teaches us the inordinate ambition is harmful. So Shakespeare gives society something of lasting value.

Secondly, though the artist gives us something of lasting value, the critic can help the artist promote his working level and tell the people how to be a good connoisseur in art. The critic can provide the feedback for the artist and a constructive criticism can always result in a better work if it is taken by the artist. Moreover, the critic also help us decide which work is worthy to read or to pay attention. For example, if the critic can call our attention to the fact that a new novel by a best-selling author is not worth of our time, and we will gain our time and attention to some other better novels to read. In this way, the critic helps us promote our level of evaluate an work of art.

Thirdly, all the famous works, which give society something of lasting value, are those created by artists and properly evaluated by critics. For example, van Gogh, the Dutch famous painter, only sold one paint in his whole life for nobody can understand him and the critic can't estimate the value of his works.  After his death, his works are properly evaluated by critics and the value of his works are accepted by people. From this example, we can understand how important the critic is in the evaluating the value of works created by artist.

In sum, the artist creates the works which give society something of lasting value, and the critic help the artist promote his working level and help people to estimate a work by evaluating the value of such work. So the artist and the critic are always supplement to each other and they are contributive to the works that have something of lasting value.