What can be hoped of an art which must necessarily depend on the favor of the public—of such a public, at least, as ours? Good work may, does sometimes, succeed. But never with the degree of success that befalls twaddle and vulgarity. Twaddle and vulgarity will always have the upper hand.
—Max Beerbohm, Saturday Review, September, 1908
We know that the tail must wag the dog, for the horse is drawn by the cart;
But, the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: It’s
clever, but is it Art?
—Rudyard Kipling, The Conundrum of the Workshops
Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
