--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A work of art can be called revolutionary…" description: "\"A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in the exemplary fate of individuals, the preva..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg" --- # A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of… ![“A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in the exemplary fate of individuals, the prevailing unfreedom and the rebelling forces, thus breaking through the mystified (and petrified) social reality, and opening the horizon of change…” quote by Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg) > “A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in the exemplary fate of individuals, the prevailing unfreedom and the rebelling forces, thus breaking through the mystified (and petrified) social reality, and opening the horizon of change (liberation).” [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art that radically reshapes perception can expose societal oppression and inspire liberation. **In simple terms:** Revolutionary art reveals oppression and sparks change. Key Takeaway Use art to challenge and transform social norms. Themes art revolution freedom social critique transformation Mood provocative hopeful defiant Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activist movements - public installations - educational curricula - community workshops Key Concepts critical theory aesthetic politics cultural emancipation Questions to Reflect On - How can art maintain its revolutionary edge? - What responsibilities do artists have to society? A Different Perspective Art may be co‑opted by dominant powers, diluting its radical impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aesthetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Change](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/change/) [Fate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fate/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Horizon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horizon/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Liberation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberation/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Revolutionary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revolutionary/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Transformation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/transformation/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [Venezuela, given its extraordinary educational, cultural, and social developments, and its vast energy and natural resources, is called on to become a revolutionary model…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/venezuela-given-its-extraordinary-educational-cultural-and-social/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [Repetition is a revolutionary virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fidel-castro/repetition-is-a-revolutionary-virtue/) [Fidel Castro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fidel-castro/) > [“and there was only one revolutionary virtue which he had not learned, the virtue of self-deception”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/and-there-was-only-one-revolutionary-virtue-which-he-had-not-learned/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [As you get up in the morning, as you make decisions, as you spend money, make friends, make commitments, you are creating a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-catherine-bateson/as-you-get-up-in-the-morning-as-you-make-decisions-as-you-spend-money/) [Mary Catherine Bateson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-catherine-bateson/) > [“Nature is beautiful because it looks like Art; and Art can only be called beautiful if we are conscious of it as Art while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/nature-is-beautiful-because-it-looks-like-art-and-art-can-only-be/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [I have to say that I reject somewhat the distinction between something called art and something called public art. I think all art demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-gormley/i-have-to-say-that-i-reject-somewhat-the-distinction-between/) [Antony Gormley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-gormley/) > [Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive - in the past, that was mixed up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-gormley/art-is-the-means-by-which-we-communicate-what-it-feels-like-to-be/) [Antony Gormley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-gormley/) > [Art is for the so-called nerds, and I'm one of those guys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geno-smith/art-is-for-the-so-called-nerds-and-i-m-one-of-those-guys/) [Geno Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geno-smith/) > [No one should ever imitate the style of another because, with regard to art, he will be called a nephew and not a child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/no-one-should-ever-imitate-the-style-of-another-because-with-regard/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [At the classical origins of philosophic thought, the transcending concepts remained committed to the prevailing separation between intellectual and manual labor to the established…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/at-the-classical-origins-of-philosophic-thought-the-transcending/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [To the degree to which they correspond to the given reality, thought and behavior express a false consciousness, responding to and contributing to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/to-the-degree-to-which-they-correspond-to-the-given-reality-thought/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [There was really interesting work going on, for example, in the Mississippi bayou, where there were some really exemplary health centers that also became…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/there-was-really-interesting-work-going-on-for-example-in-the/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [The exemplary vanguard role of the Communists is of vital importance. Communists in the Eighth Route and New Fourth Armies should set an example…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/the-exemplary-vanguard-role-of-the-communists-is-of-vital-importance/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [Many women have made the mistake of changing their beliefs to accommodate their work; it must be the other way around. No circumstance is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-kay-ash/many-women-have-made-the-mistake-of-changing-their-beliefs-to/) [Mary Kay Ash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-kay-ash/) > [Truth be told, there are lots of companies that provide exemplary phone support. DirecTV, Virgin America and Apple are a few that regularly exceed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-hamel/truth-be-told-there-are-lots-of-companies-that-provide-exemplary/) [Gary Hamel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-hamel/) ## More by Herbert Marcuse > [The strains and stresses suffered by the individual in society are grounded in the normal functioning of that society (and of the individual!) rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-strains-and-stresses-suffered-by-the-individual-in-society-are/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [ \[Art\] can speak its own language only as long as the images are alive which refuse and refute the established order. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/art-can-speak-its-own-language-only-as-long-as-the-images-are-alive/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [If man has learned to see and know what really is, he will act in accordance with truth, Epistemology is in itself ethics, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/if-man-has-learned-to-see-and-know-what-really-is-he-will-act-in/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Hypostatized into a ritual pattern, Marxian theory becomes ideology. But its content and function distinguish it from classical forms of ideology; it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/hypostatized-into-a-ritual-pattern-marxian-theory-becomes-ideology/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Art cannot change the world, but it can contribute to changing the consciousness and drives of the men and women who could change the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/art-cannot-change-the-world-but-it-can-contribute-to-changing-the/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [That which is cannot be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/that-which-is-cannot-be-true/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [The closed language does not demonstrate and explain it communicates decision, dictum, command. Where it defines, the definition becomes "separation of good from evil;"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-closed-language-does-not-demonstrate-and-explain-it-communicates/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [The apparatus defeats its own purpose if its purpose is to create a humane existence on the basis of a humanized nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-apparatus-defeats-its-own-purpose-if-its-purpose-is-to-create-a/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [“As Hegel defines it: "Thinking is, indeed, essentially the negation of that which is before us." ... Reason is the negation of the negative.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/as-hegel-defines-it-thinking-is-indeed-essentially-the-negation-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [The precarious ontological link between Logos and Eros is broken, and scientific rationality emerges as essentially neutral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/the-precarious-ontological-link-between-logos-and-eros-is-broken-and/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [If mass communications blend together harmoniously, and often unnoticeably, art, politics, religion, and philosophy with commercials, they bring these realms of culture to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/if-mass-communications-blend-together-harmoniously-and-often/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [This society turns everything it touches into a potential source of progress and exploitation, of drudgery and satisfaction, of freedom and of oppression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/this-society-turns-everything-it-touches-into-a-potential-source-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Dialectical thought understands the critical tension between "is" and "ought" first as an ontological condition, pertaining to the structure of Being itself. However, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/dialectical-thought-understands-the-critical-tension-between-is-and/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Obscenity is a moral concept in the verbal arsenal of the establishment, which abuses the term by applying it, not to expressions of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/obscenity-is-a-moral-concept-in-the-verbal-arsenal-of-the/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [“For "totalitarian" is not only a terroristic political coordination of society, but also a non-terroristic economic-technical coordination which operates through the manipulation of needs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/for-totalitarian-is-not-only-a-terroristic-political-coordination-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) [Explore all 123 Herbert Marcuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) ## More Aesthetic quotes > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“Beauty in the European sense has always had a premeditated quality to it. We've always had an aesthetic intention and a long-range plan. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/beauty-in-the-european-sense-has-always-had-a-premeditated-quality-to/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [All efforts to render politics aesthetic culminate in one thing: war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-benjamin/all-efforts-to-render-politics-aesthetic-culminate-in-one-thing-war/) [Walter Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-benjamin/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [I don't think I was ever thinking critically about my aesthetic, I think it's enough when you're little just to understand that you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tavi-gevinson/i-don-t-think-i-was-ever-thinking-critically-about-my-aesthetic-i/) [Tavi Gevinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tavi-gevinson/) > [I'm kind of still down with Virg Woolf on this one: "women must kill the aesthetic ideal through which they themselves have been 'killed'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/i-m-kind-of-still-down-with-virg-woolf-on-this-one-women-must-kill/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [Virtue is as little to be acquired by learning as genius; nay, the idea is barren, and is only to be employed as an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/virtue-is-as-little-to-be-acquired-by-learning-as-genius-nay-the-idea/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [There is a certain aesthetic pleasure in trying to imagine the unimaginable and failing, if you are a reader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-s-byatt-2/there-is-a-certain-aesthetic-pleasure-in-trying-to-imagine-the/) [A. S. Byatt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-s-byatt-2/) > [I try to get the hip-hop aesthetic, most times without an MC. I don't use a rapper or a DJ to give it the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-glasper/i-try-to-get-the-hip-hop-aesthetic-most-times-without-an-mc-i-don-t/) [Robert Glasper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-glasper/) > [It's so important what you're doing in your life. It's tremendously important to the work, and no aesthetic theories take that into account.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-maus/it-s-so-important-what-you-re-doing-in-your-life-it-s-tremendously/) [John Maus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-maus/) > [It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-schaeffer/it-is-not-necessary-to-have-an-extravagant-food-budget-in-order-to/) [Edith Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-schaeffer/) > [In reality no food is valued solely for its nutritive power and no garment or house solely for the protection it affords against cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/in-reality-no-food-is-valued-solely-for-its-nutritive-power-and-no/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Art is realistic when it strives to express an ethical ideal. Realism is striving for truth, and truth is always beautiful. Here the aesthetic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrei-tarkovsky/art-is-realistic-when-it-strives-to-express-an-ethical-ideal-realism/) [Andrei Tarkovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrei-tarkovsky/) > [I had always wanted to expand to beauty, but I knew I wanted to be able to translate my design aesthetic in an authentic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-ronson/i-had-always-wanted-to-expand-to-beauty-but-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be/) [Charlotte Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-ronson/) > [I wanted the press to become something of a movement. Not a movement committed to a particular 'ism', but a gathering together of writers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-metcalf/i-wanted-the-press-to-become-something-of-a-movement-not-a-movement/) John Metcalf [Browse all 953 Aesthetic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aesthetic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in the exemplary fate of individuals, the prevailing unfreedom and the rebelling forces, thus breaking through the mystified (and petrified) social reality, and opening the horizon of change (liberation).", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Herbert Marcuse" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionary-if-by-virtue-of-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Aesthetic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionary-if-by-virtue-of-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb1/herbert-marcuse-3589_aesthetic_a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionar_833695.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A work of art can be called revolutionary if, by virtue of the aesthetic transformation, it represents, in…” — Herbert Marcuse", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Herbert Marcuse", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A work of art can be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionary-if-by-virtue-of-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/a-work-of-art-can-be-called-revolutionary-if-by-virtue-of-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```