A Study Of The Morality In John Ruskin’s Art Criticism

John Ruskin is the greatest art critic and social critic in the Victorian Era of United Kingdom.As “the sole arbiter” concerning art and culture in that era,his thought of art criticism had an considerable impact on the era he lived in and after.The current academic focus of Ruskin’s research shows that both foreign scholars and domestic experts have deduced academic topics at different levels and angles from the encyclopedic critic,and have carried out a step-by-step analysis and interpretation of these theoretical directions.In order to contribute to the research on Ruskin and the study of art theory,this research gives a profound analysis of Ruskin’s moral discourse in his art criticism from the perspective of Ruskin’s “moral consciousness”,according to the research findings of predecessors and the main art criticism literature of Ruskin.This research conducts a theoretical and practical analysis of Ruskin’s “art morality” from the following four levels:First of all,Ruskin’s “art morality” is rooted in the social and cultural environment of the Victorian era and has become more prominent as he constantly criticized the art and culture of that era in the way of moral preaching,under the influence of religious beliefs,family education and the thoughts of others.Secondly,it is in this critical context that Ruskin’s “art morality” is shaped imperceptibly,which is most prominently reflected in the three moral principles of his art criticism: the love of nature,that is,“art should according to nature”,which focuses on the moral emotions of kindness,admiration and sympathy in art;the foundation of truth,that is,“truth are the foundation of all art”,which mainly reveals the moral virtues of faithfulness,frankness and obedience in art;the function of art is to serve people and society,which aims to emphasize the moral value of art serving people and society.Thirdly,under the guidance of the above three moral principles,Ruskin galloped in the moral experience of poetry,painting,architecture,sculpture and other specific arts,and constructed the critical practice discourse with“morality” as the core.Based on this,Ruskin’s application of moral principles in the practice of art criticism shows his multi-dimensional art morality and can be seen from three perspectives,namely: firstly,from the perspective of moral thought and moral emotion,the theory of moral essence and moral axiology in Ruskin’s art criticism is the basis of his moral practice;secondly,in the three specific aspects of artistic creation,religious morality and artist’s moral character,it highlights Ruskin’s multi-dimensional thinking on the issue of art and morality in the art world;thirdly,in social criticism,Ruskin’s criticism of art education and labor reform is a profound expression of his moral discourse in the relationship between art and society.Finally,because Ruskin’s art moral criticism heritage has always been controversial and the morality in Ruskin’s art criticism thought has a certain resonance with the new era situation along with the development of human history.Therefore,after a period of silence,the sharpness of Ruskin’s criticism and the brilliance of morality resurfaced in people’s vision,which in turn caused contemporary researchers to re-read and re-rethink Ruskin’s thoughts and scholars re-examine,interpret and evaluate Ruskin’s work from different disciplines.Within such a broad perspective of Ruskin’s research,it is necessary for us to focus on and study the morality in his art criticism.In this way,I hope to find inspiration for solving many problems in the development of contemporary art.