"In the world of reality the more beautiful a work of art, the longer, we may be sure, was the time required to make it, and the greater the number of different minds which assisted in its development"
About this Quote
Hearn pushes back against the romantic myth of the solitary genius and sudden inspiration, shifting attention to the slow, collective labor that underlies lasting beauty. The phrase world of reality distinguishes art as it is actually made from daydreams of effortless creation. What we admire as beautiful is not a lightning strike but an accumulation: years of apprenticeship, drafts and revisions, the discipline of craft traditions, and the silent collaboration of teachers, editors, patrons, and audiences who refine an artist’s sense of form and value.
Born in Greece, raised in Europe, and later naturalized in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo, Hearn was acutely aware of how cultures shape perception. His studies of folklore and Japanese arts taught him that a poem, a print, or a ceremony is the visible crest of a long wave of transmission. Even when a single name is attached to a masterpiece, countless minds have contributed: predecessors who established techniques and genres, artisans who made tools and materials, critics and peers who offered resistance, and the public whose expectations and memories give a work resonance.
Examples abound. A Gothic cathedral embodies centuries of planning, engineering, carving, and worship; no single mason could claim it. A symphony relies on orchestral musicians, conductors, instrument makers, and halls designed for sound. In Japanese ukiyo-e printing, the designer depended on carvers, printers, and publishers to bring a vision to fruition. Even a novel written alone draws on a language shaped by millions of speakers and a tradition of narrative forms.
Hearn’s claim is not only descriptive but ethical. To recognize the time and number of minds behind beauty is to cultivate patience and humility, to honor endurance and shared memory over novelty for its own sake. It invites a more generous way of looking: to see every finished work as the surface of a deep collective process, and to measure greatness by the breadth of life and labor it contains.
Born in Greece, raised in Europe, and later naturalized in Japan as Koizumi Yakumo, Hearn was acutely aware of how cultures shape perception. His studies of folklore and Japanese arts taught him that a poem, a print, or a ceremony is the visible crest of a long wave of transmission. Even when a single name is attached to a masterpiece, countless minds have contributed: predecessors who established techniques and genres, artisans who made tools and materials, critics and peers who offered resistance, and the public whose expectations and memories give a work resonance.
Examples abound. A Gothic cathedral embodies centuries of planning, engineering, carving, and worship; no single mason could claim it. A symphony relies on orchestral musicians, conductors, instrument makers, and halls designed for sound. In Japanese ukiyo-e printing, the designer depended on carvers, printers, and publishers to bring a vision to fruition. Even a novel written alone draws on a language shaped by millions of speakers and a tradition of narrative forms.
Hearn’s claim is not only descriptive but ethical. To recognize the time and number of minds behind beauty is to cultivate patience and humility, to honor endurance and shared memory over novelty for its own sake. It invites a more generous way of looking: to see every finished work as the surface of a deep collective process, and to measure greatness by the breadth of life and labor it contains.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|
More Quotes by Lafcadio
Add to List
