Book Review: On Art and Life

Book #27

“But, accurately speaking, no good work whatever can be perfect, and the demand for perfection is always a sign of a misunderstanding of the ends of art.” — John Ruskin, The Nature of Gothic

My copy was split into two long essays — one was “The Nature of Gothic” and the other “The Work of Iron”. I really, really enjoyed the former, which was a study into gothic architecture but also talking about art in general, perfection and imperfection in art, human hands in the art, etc. It’s Ruskin, so of course it was well-written and articulate. The latter essay though, was very strange. It made complete sense, but to go on for fifty pages on the importance of iron and specifically of iron oxide (rust) is kind of bizarre. 

I was genuinely disappointed that of all the quotes I post and people reblog and ‘like’, only one or two found it fit to like Ruskin. He’s amazing! What were you all thinking? Just look at the above quote.