Schaeffer on Art

In continuing my review of Francis Schaeffer’s book, How Should We Then Live?, I need to comment on his philosophy of art. What does this have to do with this blog? Because if one’s worldview is reflected in their creative output, as Schaeffer theorizes, then we can look at art to see their worldview. Understanding one’s worldview is the first step in apologetics.

When Schaeffer starts to criticize modern philosophy and modern art, I start to disagree with him. He starts to evaluate modern art as bad because it reflects modern philosophy. On the contrary, I agree that modern art reflects modern philosophy but that doesn’t make it bad. What makes art good is that it communicates its message clearly. I might not agree with the philosophical conclusions of modern art, but it might do a good job summarizing that philosophy thereby making it good art. We don’t have to agree with one’s philosophy in order to think that their art is good. Take, for example, some modern music- I might not agree with what they are saying, but they do a good job conveying their message.

For example, the Supertramp song, “The Logical Song,” has been a favorite for a long time. The message of the song is the protagonist’s confusion in a world without meaning. Not only are the words of this song put together to clearly communicate the difficulty in living in such a world, but the tone of the music matches this theme as well. This makes this song good art.

On the other hand Thomas Kincaid’s art is so idealized and romantic that it is no longer honest. He is trying to communicate a message of peace and tranquility that is artifical- notice they are never real scenes and there are rarely any people. Even if I agree that life can be this way sometimes, Kincaid is a bad artist because he does not communicate honestly about the world around him. Now I don’t mean to insult any of the great masters of modern art (Picasso, Van Gough, Kandinsky, Pollock, and many others) by comparing Kincaid to them- but merely use Kincaid as an example of what bad art is really like.

Ironically much of modern art (the good stuff that correctly communicates its worldview) is its own best critic. If we let modern art speak for itself, it will become its own best critic. It shows the randomness and disorder of the world it sees, along with the confusion and disorientation that follows. It longs for some order in the chaos. It is crying out for the God that it rejects as dead- while it screams in anger at God for abandoning them.