Art Needs No Justification
I've been known to say that without Francis Schaeffer, the emergence of evangelicals in American culture and politics might never have happened. And here's an article making the case that without Hans Rookmaaker, Francis Schaeffer's influence might have had a different shape, especially as it relates to the arts.
Rookmaaker, a Dutch art historian, teamed with Schaeffer in the 60s and 70s to challenge evangelicals to think more deeply about art and art making. His Modern Art and the Death of a Culture, published by InterVarsity in 1970, was one of the first major attempts by an evangelical to critically engage the spirit of the times by taking on Modern Art, asserting that the alienation, disorientation, and nihilism exhibited in Modern Art were monstrously destructive, huge losses for humanity. Not everyone agrees with Rookmaaker, but we should surely thank him for lifting the evangelical conversation about art to a new plane.
The final chapter of Modern Art and the Death of a Culture - "Faith and Art" - summarizes the issues Christian artists face with a comprehension and depth that is still surprising. If you want an overview of why Rookmaaker made such an impact, read it.
However, his best book is Art Needs No Justification, published posthumously in 1978. In this slim volume of 61 pages, Rookmaaker argues that "art cannot be used to show the validity of Christianity; it should rather be the reverse." It's hard to find a hardcopy now, but Art Needs No Justification is truly a classic, one every disciple-artist should have on their desk.
I say it's hard to find...I "googled" it and came up with a couple of sites that actually have the full text online. Here's the one at Redeemer University College:
Check it out.
12:11:01 PM
