Artist Quote by Susan Sontag
““The concern is that the images to be devised won't be sufficiently upsetting: not concrete, not detailed enough. Pity can entail a moral judgement if, as Aristotle maintains, pity is considered to be the emotion that we owe only to those enduring undeserved misfortune. But pity, far from being the natural twin of fear in the dramas of catastrophic misfortune, seems diluted—distracted—by fear, while fear (dread, terror) usually manages to swamp pity. Leonardo is suggesting that the artist's gaze be, literally, pitiless. The image should appall, and in that terribilità lies a challenging kind of beauty.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: On Photography, 1977
The artist must create images that shock, avoiding softened pity, so that terror dominates and reveals a harsh beauty.
In simple terms: Create shocking images that prioritize terror over pity.
Key Takeaway
Embrace unsettling aesthetics.
Themes
art
aesthetics
ethics
emotion
Mood
provocative
intense
Type
critical
philosophical
When to use this quote
- gallery exhibitions
- film horror scenes
- political protest art
- media criticism
Key Concepts
catharsis
beauty
terror
pity
visual culture
Questions to Reflect On
- How does terror enhance artistic meaning?
- When does shock become counterproductive?
A Different Perspective
Such images may alienate audiences or be misinterpreted as gratuitous.
![“Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… [The anthropologist] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner alienation as an urban intellectual.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fe1/susan-sontag-332_alienation_anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-a_15322.jpg)
