--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now the work of art also represents a…" description: "\"Now the work of art also represents a state of final equilibrium, of accomplished order and maximum relative entropy, and there are those who resent it..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/rudolf-arnheim-10963_accomplished_now-the-work-of-art-also-represents-a-st_779858.jpg" --- # Now the work of art also represents a state of final… ![“Now the work of art also represents a state of final equilibrium, of accomplished order and maximum relative entropy, and there are those who resent it. But art is not meant to stop the stream of life. Within a narrow span of duration and space the work of art concentrates a view of the human…” quote by Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/rudolf-arnheim-10963_accomplished_now-the-work-of-art-also-represents-a-st_779858.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/rudolf-arnheim-10963_accomplished_now-the-work-of-art-also-represents-a-st_779858.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5ca/rudolf-arnheim-10963_accomplished_now-the-work-of-art-also-represents-a-st_779858.jpg) > “Now the work of art also represents a state of final equilibrium, of accomplished order and maximum relative entropy, and there are those who resent it. But art is not meant to stop the stream of life. Within a narrow span of duration and space the work of art concentrates a view of the human condition; and sometimes it marks the steps of progression, just as a man climbing the dark stairs of a medieval tower assures himself by the changing sights glimpsed through its narrow windows that he is getting somewhere after all.” [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art captures a fleeting snapshot of human experience, yet it should not halt life's flow. **In simple terms:** Art reflects life briefly, not permanently. Key Takeaway Let art inspire, then move forward. Themes art human condition impermanence Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - museum visits - creative projects - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetics entropy philosophy Questions to Reflect On - How does art influence your perception of progress? - When does art become a barrier to living? A Different Perspective Art can become stagnant if over‑analyzed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Climbing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climbing/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [Entropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entropy/) [Equilibrium](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/equilibrium/) [Human condition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-condition/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Medieval](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/medieval/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Progression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progression/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Works of art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/works-of-art/) ## Related quotes > [I think there is no work of art which represents the spirit of a nation more surely than "Die Meister Singer" of Richard Wagner.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-vaughan-williams/i-think-there-is-no-work-of-art-which-represents-the-spirit-of-a/) [Ralph Vaughan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-vaughan-williams/) > [Any work of art represents a series of conscious choices on the part of the artist - what color to paint, what note to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-pitts/any-work-of-art-represents-a-series-of-conscious-choices-on-the-part/) [Leonard Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-pitts/) > [Ledger art represents a spirit which has lasted through the hardships and turmoil. It is my goal and ambition that this style of pictograph…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-horse/ledger-art-represents-a-spirit-which-has-lasted-through-the-hardships/) [Michael Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-horse/) > [Inasmuch as art preserves, with the promise of happiness, the memory of the goal that failed, it can enter, as a 'regulative idea,' the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-marcuse/inasmuch-as-art-preserves-with-the-promise-of-happiness-the-memory-of/) [Herbert Marcuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-marcuse/) > [Entropy theory is indeed a first attempt to deal with global form; but it has not been dealing with structure. All it says is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-is-indeed-a-first-attempt-to-deal-with-global-form-but-2/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [“Entropy theory is indeed a first attempt to deal with global form; but it has not been dealing with structure. All it says is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-is-indeed-a-first-attempt-to-deal-with-global-form-but/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Entropy theory, on the other hand, is not concerned with the probability of succession in a series of items but with the overall distribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-on-the-other-hand-is-not-concerned-with-the/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [From the very beginning, art meant something very important to the people who made it. It was a correspondence of the emotions to what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-resnick/from-the-very-beginning-art-meant-something-very-important-to-the/) [Milton Resnick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-resnick/) > [“I know from grim experience that there is a beauty to her inner layers, too. Marvels of symmetry and craftsmanship sealed away inside her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/i-know-from-grim-experience-that-there-is-a-beauty-to-her-inner/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [A large share of our art heritage is now derived from peoples whose idea of art was quite other than ours, and even from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-malraux/a-large-share-of-our-art-heritage-is-now-derived-from-peoples-whose/) [Andre Malraux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-malraux/) > [Works of art are meant to be lived with and loved, and if we try to understand them, we should try to understand them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/works-of-art-are-meant-to-be-lived-with-and-loved-and-if-we-try-to/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) > [An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them. We live in an age when men treat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/an-artist-should-create-beautiful-things-but-should-put-nothing-of/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Poets are not so scrupulous as you are. They know how useful passion is for publication. Nowadays a broken heart will run to many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/poets-are-not-so-scrupulous-as-you-are-they-know-how-useful-passion/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Art is meant to bring people together. It's meant to raise consciousness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-victor-dixon/art-is-meant-to-bring-people-together-it-s-meant-to-raise/) [Brandon Victor Dixon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-victor-dixon/) > [Art is meant to strike us with Reality, not allow us to hide from it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elmer-rice/art-is-meant-to-strike-us-with-reality-not-allow-us-to-hide-from-it/) [Elmer Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elmer-rice/) ## More by Rudolf Arnheim > [Order is a prerequisite of survival; therefore the impulse to produce orderly arrangements is inbred by evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/order-is-a-prerequisite-of-survival-therefore-the-impulse-to-produce/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Seeing consists of the grasping of structural features rather than the indiscriminate recording of detail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/seeing-consists-of-the-grasping-of-structural-features-rather-than/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [The dance, just as the performance of the actor, is kinesthetic art, art of the muscle sense. The awareness of tension and relaxation within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/the-dance-just-as-the-performance-of-the-actor-is-kinesthetic-art-art/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Order is a necessary condition for anything the human mind is to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/order-is-a-necessary-condition-for-anything-the-human-mind-is-to/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [The rehabilitation of order as a universal principle, however, suggested at the same time that orderliness by itself is not sufficient to account for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/the-rehabilitation-of-order-as-a-universal-principle-however/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Entropy theory, on the other hand, is not concerned with the probability of succession in a series of items but with the overall distribution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/entropy-theory-on-the-other-hand-is-not-concerned-with-the/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Modem science, then, maintains on the one hand that nature, both organic and inorganic, strives towards a state of order and that man's actions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/modem-science-then-maintains-on-the-one-hand-that-nature-both-organic/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [It would be most wholesome if for at least twenty years art historians were forbidden to refer to any derivations. If they were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/it-would-be-most-wholesome-if-for-at-least-twenty-years-art/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Television is a new, hard test of our wisdom. If we succeed in mastering the new medium it will enrich us. But it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/television-is-a-new-hard-test-of-our-wisdom-if-we-succeed-in/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [A cloud can look like a camel, but a camel is unlikely to look like a cloud. This is so because the signifier must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/a-cloud-can-look-like-a-camel-but-a-camel-is-unlikely-to-look-like-a/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Today we no longer regard the universe as the cause of our own undeserved troubles but perhaps, on the contrary, as the last refuge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/today-we-no-longer-regard-the-universe-as-the-cause-of-our-own/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Now equilibrium is the very opposite of disorder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/now-equilibrium-is-the-very-opposite-of-disorder/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Just as a chemist "isolates" a substance from contaminations that distort his view of its nature and effects, so the work of art purifies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/just-as-a-chemist-isolates-a-substance-from-contaminations-that/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [The fundamental peculiarity of the photographic medium; the physical objects themselves print their image by means of the optical and chemical action of light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/the-fundamental-peculiarity-of-the-photographic-medium-the-physical/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Variety is more than a means of avoiding boredom, since art is more than an entertainment of the senses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/variety-is-more-than-a-means-of-avoiding-boredom-since-art-is-more/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) [Explore all 62 Rudolf Arnheim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) ## More Accomplished quotes > [I never believed in trying to do anything. 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This is the path way to Heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/when-you-have-accomplished-your-goal-simply-walk-away-this-is-the/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [... even the most sublimely accomplished non-stop talker can't consistently please.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger-2/even-the-most-sublimely-accomplished-non-stop-talker-can-t/) [J. D. 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