Griggs, Edward Howard
"Art and the human spirit" by Edward Howard Griggs is a collection of lectures on aesthetics written in the early 20th century. It presents a clear, purposeful survey of sculpture, painting, music, and poetry, arguing that art is not a luxury, a moral sermon, or mere technique, but a vital means of expressing and enriching life. The work explores the origins of art in religion and myth, the shaping power of race and epoch alongside individual genius, and the distinct functions and limits of each art. It also champions literature’s role in liberal culture and explains how beauty refines the spirit and the “art of living.”The opening of this work sets the course’s spirit: it corrects popular errors about art’s purpose, asserts “art for life’s sake,” and outlines a study that moves from the unity and idealizing power of the arts to their historical sources and cultural service. It sketches how early religious ritual and mythology feed later masterpieces, how race, epoch, and personality shape style, and how sculpture and painting communicate through form and color while music, unfolding in time, uniquely moves feeling and suggests the infinite. It contrasts poetry’s dual appeal to imagination and ear with the other arts, then shifts to literature’s place in liberal education, proposing four approaches—content, form, and both in historical context. Finally, it frames beauty as the harmonious marriage of form and spirit, urges active cultivation of appreciation in nature and art,…
These books are free to read. Each is in the public domain in the United States; check your own country's rules before you copy or share one.
