To understand this poem, one must know the story of Dorian Gray. Gray was a gentleman of England who after his portrait had been painted found that he did not age, his painted portrait aged instead. This poem is not from Gray's perspective, yet it is taking into account the role of the artist. It asks the question, what is or are the artist's responsibility when painting a portrait. In my opinion the artist is responsible for only the product.
Adding more to the back story of Gray, he became a tirant, and was feared. I also believe that this poem does take in account that if blame is placed on the artist, then writers etc should be blamed as well. One line that stands out to me is when Wilde says, "No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything." This line states it perfectly that whatever the product is it is the artist's responsibility to show the truth.
However, the last line, " All art is quite useless." This line for me means that it should not take art for those to see what is basically in front of one's face. Which makes art useless.
Tony,
ReplyDeleteOK synopsis of the plot of Wilde's novel, and some OK comments on the preface itself. Not sure I follow your points about the two passages from it you quote here, though. I think Wilde's statement that "All art is quite useless" is intended to separate art from utilitarian or moral considerations that might tend to try to take control of art's content or interpretation. For Wilde beauty is the purpose of art, and he thinks beauty exists separately from (and above) issues of usefulness.