Decline of the Lie · Selected Essays on Art Criticism by Oscar Wilde

Author: [British] Oscar Wilde
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Life imitates art far more than art imitates life. Outstanding artists create new archetypes, and life tries to imitate them. Art finds its perfection within itself rather than outside itself. The purpose of art is emotion for emotion, while the purpose of life is emotion for action. "Outstanding artists create new archetypes, and life tries to imitate them"; "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life"; "Language is the mother of thought, not the child of thought." A century later, these aesthetic views from the master Wilde still surprise us modern people with their avant-garde and pioneering spirit. This book collects and translates Wilde's famous art criticism collection Intentions and another important essay The Soul of Man Under Socialism. Many of Wilde's famous quotes that have been passed down are from these works. The translator has selected a large number of art images to interpret relevant chapters, a first in the translation of Wilde's works, making it particularly valuable.