"Truth, Love, and Beauty" or Something Else?
- Lucy
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Dear reader, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: the last couple of weeks have been rough as we navigate the ever-changing waters of Rob's medical journey.
But before all of that started, I took some time to enjoy an art exhibition at NMHU's Kennedy Gallery here in Las Vegas with a good friend, and I'd like to share that experience.
The show's name was "1900 - The Awakening". It featured over 50 original prints and posters celebrating the avant-garde, "an era of abrupt change and the emergence of mass media". This is the time when advertising transformed from simple flyers to an esteemed art form - Art Nouveau and Early Modernism.
You've probably heard of at least one artist from this time, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. He made graphic posters for performers, like the one for Jane Avril below, or dance halls, like the rather infamous Moulin Rouge, which was the birthplace of the can-can dance. Overall, the artwork from this time embodies the ebullient, frenetic spirit of the nightlife in Paris.
The NMHU exhibition primarily featured artwork by the Czech artist, Alphonse Mucha. He believed that there are three "cornerstone" virtues of humanity, and he endeavored to communicate them through his artwork as his way of contributing to the progress of humankind. Those virtues?
Beauty, Truth, and Love
Both my friend and I agreed his artwork was beautiful. Here's an example titled "Four Seasons," and each woman is an individual panel sized 41" × 21":
They are very impressive in person.
As we looked at more of his work in the gallery, it became rather evident that to him, "beauty" meant young, white women. I can't really argue that young women aren't beautiful, but personally, I see beauty in people of all shapes, sizes, genders, and races (not to mention in rocks, trees, clouds, etc). To consistently reduce beauty to just one thing is too narrow for both my friend and me.
Soon, we started talking about what we would name as the three cornerstone virtues of humanity.
According to AI, "The best definition of virtue is a strong, consistent character trait or habit demonstrating moral excellence, leading to actions that are inherently good, right, and beneficial for oneself and others, often involving doing the difficult but correct thing. It's about cultivating deep-seated dispositions like courage, justice, or temperance, rather than just following rules or seeking pleasure, representing a peak of human character."
We came up with a lot of other options, so then I started asking other people what they thought. Here are some of the answers I received:
Truthfulness / Honesty
Strong Work Ethic
Intention
Loyalty
Kindness / Putting Others First
Generosity
Flexibility (in regard to thinking)
Curiosity
Improvisation
Belief
Integrity
Gratitude
What would you add???
Maybe the words we choose are directly related to the times we live in.
The 1900s were filled with urbanization, new tech like cars and airplanes, the rise of the consumer culture, gaudy entertainment, corsets, and global tensions. One could say that the feeling was one of excitement for the future.
Today, our lives are filled with rapid advancement of digital technology, including AI, the gig economy, a volatile job market, concern about environmental degradation, and (again) global tensions. I'm not sure if enough time has passed for us to say what the overall feeling is, but speaking personally, life feels uncertain, but not in an exciting way.
So in the 1900s, the three virtues were aspirational - truth, beauty, and love.
And now? What three virtues best align with how YOU are feeling? What words would you choose to be aspirational today?
My three (at least today) are:
Curiosity, Imagination, and Humor
If my artwork can conjure those things in any way, then I will feel good about making it and sharing it with the world.
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