Great art is as irrational as great music. It is mad with its own loveliness

Great art is as irrational as great music. It is mad with its own loveliness

George Jean Nathan was a prominent American drama critic, essayist, and editor known for his sharp wit and keen insights into the world of art and culture. Throughout his career, Nathan championed the idea that great art is as irrational as great music, and that it is mad with its own loveliness.

Nathan believed that true art transcends rationality and logic, tapping into something deeper and more primal within the human psyche. He saw great art as a form of madness, a kind of divine madness that allows artists to create works of beauty and meaning that defy conventional understanding. In this sense, Nathan believed that great art is not bound by the constraints of reason or logic, but instead exists in a realm of its own, where the rules of the everyday world do not apply.

Nathan's views on art were heavily influenced by his love of music, which he saw as the purest and most irrational form of artistic expression. Like great music, great art has the power to move us in ways that are beyond words, stirring our emotions and touching our souls in ways that defy explanation. Nathan believed that the best art is not just technically proficient or aesthetically pleasing, but is also imbued with a sense of madness and passion that sets it apart from the ordinary.