Artists Glorify
Artists glorify continually — they do nothing else — that is to say, all those conditions and things which have a reputation for being able to make man feel good or great, or intoxicated, or cheerful, or well and wise. These select things and conditions whose value for human happiness is considered settled and assured are the object of artists; they are always lying in wait to discover such things, and to draw them into the domain of art. I will say this: they are not themselves the assessors of happiness and those who are happy, but they always throng around these assessors with the greatest inquisitiveness and enthusiasm, in order to put their assessments immediately to use. They do so because, apart from their impatience, they also have the big lungs of heralds and the feet of runners, and thus are always among the first to glorify the new good, and thus seem to be the first to call it good and assess it as good. This, as I have said, is a mistake. They are merely quicker and louder than the actual assessors.
And who then are these? The rich and the idle.
— Nietzsche, The Joyous Science, Book II, Aph. 85
The word “pattern” is derived from the word “patron.” The artist creates a pattern of and for his/her patron in the artwork. Who are the artists’ patrons? The rich and idle — those with the wealth to support them, and those with the time to think about morals…
