"The only legitimate artists in England are the architects"

Benjamin Haydon's quote, "The only legitimate artists in England are the architects", presents an intriguing position on the status and acknowledgment of art kinds in his time. Haydon, a 19th-century English painter understood for his grand historic canvases, often expressed strong viewpoints about the art world and its various hierarchies. His statement shows both admiration and an important viewpoint on the cutting-edge.

Firstly, Haydon's remark can be seen as a recommendation of the permanence and visibility that architecture commands. Unlike other creative mediums that are restricted to galleries or personal collections, architecture shapes the very environment in which society lives. Buildings, whether grand cathedrals or public workplaces, get a monumental status and serve useful and visual functions, making them main to the cultural and physical landscape. This tangibility and public presence might have led Haydon to see architecture as an "undebatable" art type, one whose legitimacy is universally acknowledged due to its social contributions.

Second of all, Haydon's assertion may likewise be perceived as a review of the modern art scene. As an artist who struggled for gratitude and financial stability, he frequently felt that painters and sculptors were underestimated. Throughout his lifetime, the art world went through shifting tastes and a hierarchy that often positioned the classical and huge over the individual and emotive. By elevating architects, Haydon might be implicitly criticizing the general public and institutional inability to acknowledge the legitimacy and value of other artistic endeavors, highlighting the challenges faced by painters such as himself.

Additionally, designers during Haydon's era were beginning to be recognized as not merely artisans but as creative visionaries, paralleling the growing commercial and imperial power of England which needed signs of its stature. Thus, this quote encapsulates Haydon's aggravation and insight into the societal systems that figure out creative worth, acknowledging architectural impact while lamenting the undervaluing of painting and other visual arts.