The Art of “Mood”: The Philosophy of Art in Georg Simmel's “Böcklin's Landscape”

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Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2023, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (5) : 104-113.

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The Art of “Mood”: The Philosophy of Art in Georg Simmel's “Böcklin's Landscape”

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Georg Simmel's review of “Böcklin's Landscape” played a vital role in the development of his theory. Although this review contains the nationalistic background of the German-French dispute, it is more a vital philosophical stand against realism in art, on which impressionism is based. Simmel uses the concept of “mood” to clarify the intrinsic unity of Böcklin's landscapes, thus moving away from a scientistic “abstract” methodology toward a spiritual-scientific methodology with a “plumb line” allegory. The commentary's understanding of “mood” draws not only on classical German aesthetics, but also largely on Simmel's adaptation of Alois Riegl's philosophy of art. Unlike Riegl, who sees “art of mood” as a complement to a natural-scientific worldview, Simmel understands the profound coherence between Böcklin's artistic creation and historical reflection, and gives art of mood the historical mission of creating a new unity in the historical world and re-founding the world of modern human experience. Simmel thus elevates the philosophy of art to a central position in modern philosophy, highlighting the redemptive function of art in bridging the modern subject-object dichotomy.

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Georg Simmel / Arnold Böcklin / German-French dispute / landscape / mood

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The Art of “Mood”: The Philosophy of Art in Georg Simmel's “Böcklin's Landscape”[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2023, 43(5): 104-113

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