Hortensia de los Santos
Author, Researcher, Theorist

AESTHETIC TASTE

Since our purpose is to study José Martí’s considerations as an art critic; I consider it important to spend some time studying the aesthetic taste. To this end we will review what doctors and biologists know more intimately, I mean physiological reflexes, involuntary acts of our bodies occurring without a conscious order. We are born with hundreds of unconditioned, one of the first we see is the act of suckling colostrums from maternal breasts. Another is contracting the eye’s ciliary muscle caused by light. In the dark, the retina needs more light, and the apple of the eye opens because of the iris dilation. Conversely, under excessive light, the iris contracts and less light enters the eye.

Let me remind you something you probably know. Our body can be adapted to new reflexes initiated by new stressors. The Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov studied these reflexes in his laboratory using dogs, cats and other animals. Each time the animal was offered food, a bell rang; after several times, the food’s presence together with the ringing produced abundant salivary secretion. In the second part of the test, only the bell would cause the full salivary secretion. Pavlov had managed to create in these animals a type of reflex now known as conditioned; conditioned to it, not inherited.

Taste can refer to one of the five senses, the gustative taste, which resides in the lingual papillae and allows us to enjoy food. In the present study, we will consider "the power to feel and appreciate the beautiful and the ugly" designated as "aesthetic reflection" or "artistic reflection". We need to be aware that both "beautiful" and "ugly" are abstract concepts. The taste to which we refer is a personal phenomenon, and in this case regarding visual arts.

For four centuries we have been subject to the influence of an artistic expression governed by religion and by state propaganda which in cases affected the artist subconsciously. I have to refer to that predilection to Rembrandt’s, da Vinci’s and others’ paintings, so close to reality as possible; for example, a virgin goddess, a historical figure, any figure idealized or not but the closer to reality, the better.

The magazine "Masterpieces" asked critics and famous restaurateurs for a list of famous works asking to choose the ten greatest masterpieces. This is the result to which I add the years when the artist lived: Michael Angel fresco of the Sistine Chapel: The Creation of Man 1475-1564; The Giotto fresco 1266 (?) - 1337; Leonardo Da Vinci Mona Lisa, The Last Supper 1452-1519; Titian Vedelio The Rape of Europe 1477-1576; Mathis Grünewald's Isenheim Altarpiece 1460-1528; Rembrandt Van Ryn Guard Exit 1606-1669; Van Eyck Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife from 1390 to 1441; Raphael School of Athens 1483-1520; Rubens Descent from the Cross from 1577 to 1640; El Greco's Burial of Count Orgaz 1545-1614

In the course of history, we observe countless changes in styles and the violent reactions to them, not only in painting, but also in music. The beautiful and wonderful works of great artists, reproduced in numerous books, postcards, newspapers, and magazines; have created a conditioned reflex for aesthetic taste. It is this conditioned aesthetic taste what leads us to respond against art we cannot understand or does not meet requirements to which we are accustomed. I dare say nobody is absolutely free from this conditioned reflex, the young against the old and vice versa.

The list reflected in this site is a list made by skilled individuals that include painters of which the most recent is Rembrandt. This means that the last ones are at least three hundred years old, and the frescoes of Giotto over six hundred. These paintings and thousands like them have been influencing our tastes for centuries.

The author of this book spent much of his life, not studying art, but studying and writing about science, attempting to penetrate the mechanism of Allergy and began the study of art late in life, because dedication to science is overwhelming. The book "Knowledge of painting (1963)" by René Berger introduced me to modern art, and I confess, however, that I do not see Picasso in the same way young people who have been dedicated to the study or have an intimate relationship with modern art.

Right now I see before me the image of "Woman in an Armchair" by Picasso, despite having watched repeatedly, I do not see its beauty. However, I believe that Guernica is the clearest expression of the Nazis’ crimes.Next: Factores que Influyen