Art and Poetry

by Jacques Maritain

Originally titled Frontières de la poésie (1935), This book by Jacques Maritain, whose philosophical writings read as interestingly as a novel, will be welcomed by all who are seeking a better understanding of the art of our time. The book delves into Maritain's thoughts on the nature and subjectivity of art and poetry. As a philosopher, Maritain attempts to define the two concepts, describing art and poetry as "virtues," and as primarily concerned with beauty. Rather than focus on aesthetic theory, Maritain examines the concepts at a more tangible level, including a discussion of how they are made. The principles established with such precision and brilliance in his earlier work "Art and Scholasticism," which has had such a deep influence on contemporary artists, are successfully put to the test in illuminating the creative works of such diverse artists as Rouault, Marc Chagall, Gino Sevirini, and Arthur Lourie. Jacques Maritain was a French Catholic philosopher and political thinker. He was born in Paris in 1882, where he spent most of his life. His father was a prominent lawyer and his mother the daughter of a statesman. He attended the Sorbonne to study philosophy and natural science, and after marrying, he and his wife converted to Catholicism. It was after this he became a well-known scholar of St. Thomas Aquinas and Thomistic philosophy. He published widely on philosophical and political thought, and by the 1930s, he was an established thinker in the Catholic community. After the outbreak of WWII, Maritain relocated to the United States, where he taught at Princeton University and Columbia University. Later in life, he and his wife returned to France, where he continued to write and study Catholic scholarship until his death in 1973.

Genres: Art, Philosophy

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1943

About the author

T. S. Eliot once called Jacques Maritain "the most conspicuous figure and probably the most powerful force in contemporary philosophy." His wife and devoted intellectual companion, Raissa Maritain, was of Jewish descent but joined the Catholic church with him in 1906. Maritain studied under Henri Bergson but was dissatisfied with his teacher's philosophy, eventually finding certainty in the system of St. Thomas Aquinas. He lectured widely in Europe and in North and South America, and lived and taught in New York during World War II. Appointed French ambassador to the Vatican in 1945, he resigned in 1948 to teach philosophy at Princeton University, where he remained until his retirement in 1953. He was prominent in the Catholic intellectual resurgence, with a keen perception of modern French literature. Although Maritain regarded metaphysics as central to civilization and metaphysically his position was Thomism, he took full measure of the intellectual currents of his time and articulated a resilient and vital Thomism, applying the principles of scholasticism to contemporary issues. In 1963, Maritain was honored by the French literary world with the national Grand Prize for letters. He learned of the award at his retreat in a small monastery near Toulouse where he had been living in ascetic retirement for some years. In 1967, the publication of "The Peasant of the Garonne" disturbed the French Roman Catholic world. In it, Maritain attacked the "neo-modernism" that he had seen developing in the church in recent decades, especially since the Second Vatican Council. According to Jaroslav Pelikan, writing in the Saturday Review of Literature, "He laments that in avant-garde Roman Catholic theology today he can 'read nothing about the redeeming sacrifice or the merits of the Passion.' In his interpretation, the whole of the Christian tradition has identified redemption with the sacrifice of the cross. But now, all of that is being discarded, along with the idea of hell, the doctrine of creation out of nothing, the infancy narratives of the Gospels, and belief in the immortality of the human soul." Maritain's wife, Raissa, also distinguished herself as a philosophical author and poet. The project of publishing Oeuvres Completes of Jacques and Raissa Maritain has been in progress since 1982, with seven volumes now in print.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maritain possesses the gift of being able to open the readers' eyes to beauty. His writing style is like a mosaic, recombining words which he breaks out of their usual context in order to bring out a fresh layer of meaning.

[David Haines · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first three articles are essentially homages to three great artists. We get a taste, here, as to Maritain's approach to art. The 4th section is a collection of short thoughts on various aspects of art. There are some beautiful reflections here. The final section, "The Freedom of Song", is an eloquent and thoughtful approach to describing the artistic/creative spirit. This book is worth reading just for the insights in the final article!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short book composed of three 'essays' (more like three themes). The first essay looks at three painters (Mark Chagall, Georges Rouault, and Gino Severini). The second essay is a series of notes discussing literature, critiquing Andre Gide's treatment of Dostoïevski. The third essay is the most theological. Maritian discusses creative intuition through the lens of music and philosophy.

I enjoyed this book and appreciate what I understood, which may be about a third of anything Maritain said.

[sch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars for the second essay alone, which contains fascinating remarks on the novel. I don't understand most of the other two. The first essay is on three painters. The third, apparently dated 1935, begins by reflecting on changes in various artistic disciplines since the publication of Art and Scholasticism in 1920. Then he offers a theory of "creative intuition," and concludes by offering very brief analysis of a dozen composers.