There [is] a feeling of recognition, as of meeting an old friend, which comes to us all in the face of great artistic experiences. I had the same experience when I first heard an English folksong, when I first saw Michelangelo's Day and Night, when I suddenly came upon Stonehenge or had my first sight of New York City - the intuition that I had been there already.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Great art feels familiar, like recognizing an old friend, suggesting a universal intuition or past experience.
- In plain terms
- Powerful art feels like you have experienced it before, even if you haven't.
- What can you take from it?
- Art resonates deeply when it feels intuitively familiar to us.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why does art feel familiar?
- Is intuition real or learned?
Another view
Familiarity might stem from exposure rather than spiritual intuition.
More from Ralph Vaughan Williams
Film contains potentialities for the combination of all the arts such as Wagner never dreamt of.
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