Heretics · Chapter
XVII: On the Wit of Whistler explained
Chesterton critiques the modern aesthetic movement's subordination of morality to art, using Whistler as a prime example of the contradiction between preaching impersonality and being intensely personal.
What happens
Chesterton critiques the modern aesthetic movement's subordination of morality to art, using Whistler as a prime example of the contradiction between preaching impersonality and being intensely personal. He argues that Whistler's wit lacked genuine laughter and humility, contrasting him with great satirists like Rabelais, Swift, and Pope, and ultimately contends that true artistic greatness allows one to be an ordinary man, not consumed by the artistic temperament.
Themes in this chapter
Critique of Modern Morality
Chesterton attacks the modern aesthetic view that morality should be subordinated to art, arguing that morality has a permanent substance and that the aesthetes' bias is merely against others' morality.
Humility and Romance
Chesterton emphasizes the importance of humility and self-forgetfulness in true greatness, contrasting Whistler's lack of these qualities with the carefree laughter of Browning.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Whistler
Examined as the incarnation of the contradiction in l'art pour l'art: he preached impersonality but was intensely personal, and his wit lacked genuine laughter and humility.
- Professor Walter Raleigh
Quoted for his memorial on Whistler, comparing Whistler's laughter to Browning's; Chesterton disagrees with this comparison.
- Robert Browning
Contrasted with Whistler as a great man who could laugh genuinely and carelessly, embodying true artistic greatness.
- Swift
Cited as a type of satirist driven by bitter indignation, unlike Whistler.
- Shakespeare
Mentioned as an example of a very great artist who was able to be an ordinary man.
Key passages
“If the two moralities are entirely different, why do you call them both moralities?”
If moral systems are completely different, they shouldn't share the same label.
Chesterton argues against the relativist claim that morality changes entirely across ages.
“No man ever preached the impersonality of art so well; no man ever preached the impersonality of art so personally.”
Whistler advocated for art being impersonal, but did so in a highly personal and self-centered manner.
Highlights the central contradiction in Whistler's approach to art.
“He was one of those people who live up to their emotional incomes, who are always taut and tingling with vanity.”
Whistler had no emotional reserves; he was perpetually tense and vain.
Chesterton's critique of Whistler's character as lacking generosity and ease.
“The artistic temperament is a disease that afflicts amateurs.”
Obsessing over art is a sign of amateurism, not true mastery.
Chesterton distinguishes between great artists who are ordinary men and those afflicted by the artistic temperament.