THE POSITION OF THE SPECTATOR

Eric Rohmer:

Not only is there beauty and order in the world, but beauty and order are only in the world. For how could art, a human product, be the equal of nature, a divine work? At best, it is only the revelation, in the universe, of the hand of the Creator. I'll admit: there is no position more teleological, more theological, than my own. This is the position of the spectator. If he hadn't already found beauty in the world, how could he pursue it in images of the world? How could he admire the imitation of life, if he didn't admire life itself? This is the position of the filmmaker. If I film a thing, it's because I find it beautiful; therefore, I film it because it exists in the nature of beautiful things. The is the position of every artist, of every appreciator of art. If I didn't find nature beautiful - light, air, the sky, space - I would not find the work of any painter beautiful, neither Leonardo, nor Turner, nor Hartung.